


The Lies We Told In Budapest

by NattyJane



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NattyJane/pseuds/NattyJane
Summary: They both remember Budapest differently... or do they. what really happened on the mission where they first met that started it all. This is the story of an 18 year old red room agent and a 25 year old shield agent with one lie that would span 10 years and a love story that would last forever. {Agents Under Fire Series Part 1}





	1. 10 Years Ago

{Agents Under Fire Series Part 2}

Chapter 1: 10 Years Ago

I remember it differently than he does but I guess thats to be expected. I have always said that love was weakness and I guess thats true because otherwise this wouldnt hurt so much.I remember budapest very differently.The mission that I betrayed the red room, The mission that I met clint and he made a different call,The mission that I worked along side an enemy,And the mission that I fell in love....

Except Clint never did and even now he has no idea of my true feelings.Bottled up as they are. We remember budapest differently Because I had my heart in it while he did not. I discovered love while he only had the mission on his mind.When i thought about the way he had my back when we fought against the chitauri and how he protected me. For a slipt seccond I had thought of budapest our first mission.

Clint was right we both remember budapest very differently. Everything that I had remembered was nothing but a lie,A fabrication That I had told myself to ease the hurt in my chest........This is the lie I told in budapest

 

10 years ago

Slithering past the crowd almost unnoticed a slim petite red head made her way up the stairs. Following closely behind her prey waiting for just the right moment to strike. The moron not even realizing that he had a tail on him stumbled up the steps holding onto a slim blonde bimbo as he and the girl who looked ten times younger than him made there way to the bedroom.

The reason anyone would have wanted this moron dead was beyond her he didnt seem worth the effort but she wasnt here to question the red room that was there business she just did what she was told.

Slowly pulling out the syringe filled with spider venom. Natalia Romanova slowly edged her way through the dark hallway as she could see the door slightly ajar. Bubbling laughter could be heard coming from the room as she cringed. A shreak of laughter coming from the blonde bimbo inside. Slowly biding her time she crept through the hallway passing a window. Where the light from the moon crept into the hallway slowly lighting up the dark hall.

Closing in at that point on the door she had almost reached for the handle passing the last window when suddenly a slice of wind flew past her barely knicking her cheek.The window shattered glass falling all over her. Tripping backwards she hit the ground stunned almost not even able to comprehend what had happened glancing at the wall to her left an arrow imbeded in the wall.gleaming as the moon reflected off of it.

Blinking as she slowling stood up feeling slightly woozy she made her way towards the arrow plucking it out of the wall and stared at the gleaming tip.

"Sorry I believe thats mine" A cheery voice behind her suddenly said as she whirled almost getting whiplash upon doing so. Sneering at the man as she looked him up and down. before suddenly retorting "you missed" letting out a barking laugh at this mans stupidity. Looking at him as his grin widened even further as he said "did I?" blinking in confusion she had just taken a step for when her knees buckled.

Falling forwards as she hit the ground barely even able to lift her limbs as he body had begun to go sluggish. She could here the sound of footsteps as the man had come closer. Crouching infront of her and grabbing her arm roughly as he pulled her up slightly to look him in the eyes as his fingers traced the slight gash left from when the arrow had whizzed passed. "Sorry sweetheart but I never miss"

Black dots swam all around her as she felt herself beginning to sag her brain becoming a puddle of push. No longer even able to keep her self up right she found herself falling faster and faster into the darkness. The last thing she had even been aware of before blacking out was the feeling of warm arms surrounding her and then it went completely black.

Clint's pov:

Looking down at the red head in his arms Clint had to wonder what had ever made her so fierce this girl was the infamous black widow and yet it had taken only less than a second to take her down child's play really he had expected more from her well she was only 18 Still barely an adult where as he was almost 26. Having had a lot more experience under his belt having been with shield since he was 17.

The missing though was a bust. To put it in simpler terms it should have been an easy task,Take out the black widow how hard was that she had left herself wide open the perfect opportunity so what the hell had he been thinking.That she had been like he once was the kid so long ago who had needed help more than anybody and yet no one had even cared joining the circus turning to the wrong side of the tracks that is until coulson had reached out and saved him.

this girl wasn't like him though she was dangerous. Having been brainwashed by the red room for so long could she even be saved. would she want to. (oh god what the hell have 0i done) he thought as he picked up the limp girl carrying her away from the scene one thing was definitely for sure couslon was most likely going to kill him for this.(Why couldnt I have just done my job?) Well coulson always did say that I should return the favor and help someone else out one day like he had done for me.

(Though I serously doubt this is what he had in mind.yep hes gonna kill me he is serously going to kill me when he finds out. damn I am so screwed.)praying to god at this point as he walked away that coulson wouldnt report this to fury... because then he really would be screwed.


	2. A Meeting Of Enemies

Chapter 2: A Meeting Of Enemies

Light footsteps on the hard wood floor slowly began to arouse Natasha. Hearing the scuffling of someone moving across the floor almost impatiently. slowly opening her eyes and ignoring the stream of pain as she tried to move her limbs.which actually felt numb due to the poison that was slowly leaving her body. Brain still foggy and not even sure what had happened she could here voices beginning to float from another room.

one of them almost yelling. " what the hell were you thinking agent barton the order was to kill not kidnapp her how hard of a mission was that!" the voice yelled in exasperation. another voice spoke up less quiet but almost too muffled for her to here. Finally prying her eyes open and sitting up. she felt a wave of nausia filtering through but quickly decided to push it down as the voices began to come back.

"she was like me I was just helping her out like you had done in the pass" A scoff could be heard from the other man before he suddenly spoke. "please barton lets be real here you saw a pretty red head and thats why you hesitated" Natasha slowly began to rise from the bed looking around the room for anything she could use for a weapon.

{well at least they are thorough wouldnt want to make this boring or anything} she though smirking as she turned hearing one of the voices getting louder.

"shes 18 only a year older than I was she didnt exactly have a choice. I just wanted to give her that" A sigh came after than followed by the moving of a chair. She knew at this point that she needed to move quickly.Seeing the door infront of her she moved towards it slowly creeping past the door leading into the kitchen.

She had reached for the door handle. Almost about to turn it when a voice spoke behind her. "what are you doing? if your trying to escape dont bother. this is a safe house with a forest that stretches on for miles even if you did make it out of this house you would never make it out of the forest before one of us caught you" A cheery voice said making her want to punch him in the face.

Whirling around and without even thinking she swung her fist aiming right towards his pretty face. Except she never even made it, catching her wrist in his hand he twisted upwards causing her to cry out. Swing her other fist hoping to catch him of gaurd her had seemed to realize this was her intention though as he grabbed her other wrist spining her around until her back slammed against his chest holding her in a firm lock.

her arms crossed over her chest. Holding her in a lock that she couldnt escape. "easy there wouldnt want to get hurt now would we little spider" he whispered his breath on her ear sending shivers down her spine. Glaring at him from over her shoulder. She could make out a smug look on his face which was really starting to piss her off.

Bringing her head back she slammed it hard into his face causing him to release his grip as he grabbed his nose. cursing in annoyance. smirking at him smugly she crossed her arms and inwardly in her head chanted a victory. {that will teach that arrogant bastard not to mess with me} she thought grinning as he glared at her.

"well played little spider but I wouldnt be so smug if I were you" raising an eye brow at him. Her smirk still in place as she said "really cause I kinda count that as a win wouldnt you agree" laughing now outwright enjoying her victory. which ended up being cut short when she was thrown against the wall roughly the man towering over her. His hand at her throat but despite all this she didnt see any intention in his eyes whatsoever to actually kill her.

leaning into her face he whispered his breath caressinng her cheeks "what were you saving little spider about you winning" her cheeks turning red in embarrisment. which she was saved from by a voice speaking from the kitchen door. "what the hell are you doing barton. I told you to check on the hostage not flirt with her" The man, Barton as she now realized pulled away fast almost as if he had burned a stunned expression on his face.

"I wasnt flirting" he said looking away from the other balding man.Grumbling he turned heading towards the door before pausing right infront of it "Ill go check the perimeter again make sure she doesnt get away shes a tricky one sir" he said before storming out "Oh I am not the one that need to worry barton it looks like she already as you in her web" he murmered glancing at the red head who was now in a slumped position on the floor.

Looking down at her feet Natasha fround as she could hear her own heart beating in her chest. Her cheeks dusted a light pink. {what the hell is going on} she thought confusion seeping in through her head. {that man it would probably be best if I stayed away from him} she thought. Glancing up at the balding man who looked like he was looking her over for any chance of a threat sighed " Please do me a favor and try not to get into any trouble I would really hate to have to sedate you again" he said turning towards the couch, collapsing in it.

"what do you want with me? why did you take me?" she growled standing up her hands bald into fists, her teeth smashing together as she gritted them. "honestly I dont know ask barton hes the one who grabbed you, though I doubt even he knows what we are going to do now he really doesnt think a head. this is such a pain" frowning she looked towards the door with an almost uncertain look.

Just as she thought that man barton it was definetly best to stay away from him and she didnt mean because he was dangerous. Oh he was definetly dangerous but on a whole other level. Plus she also really hated smug bastards like him. They pissed her off most of all.

Clints pov:

what the hell was he thinking. Coulson was right what the hell had he been doing. from anybody elses point of view it would definetly look like flirting but it wasnt his fault that feisty red head was really fun to mess with. watching her you die face had also been fun to see but he should have just done his mission to begin with. Take the girl out how hard was that.

She had just looked so alone though when he had seen her through that window almost like an injured bird even though she was definetly not that at all she had blood on her hands just as he had only probably alot more and she was anything but innocent. peering out into the forest he let out a sigh "what the hell am I thinking what are we even going to do with her. let her join shield maybe that is if she doesnt kill us in our sleeps first" this was just too much effort for him to think about now and fury was still going to kill him when he found out.

That girl was definitely going to be questioned and she would probably put up a fight as well. The red room might also end up coming for her as well which probably wont be a good thing. Oh this has offically turned into one giant mess {I hope I dont get fired for this or have even worse reprecussions than that.}

he thought running his down down his face. this really is one giant cluster fuck. {I need to stay the hell away from that girl until this is all over. damn though she is just so much fun to tease. oh god shes going to kill me} yes it would just be better for everyones sake if he avoided her like the plague until they got back to shield.


	3. The Unexpected Escape

Chapter 3:The Unexpected Escape

The clock on the wall ticked by as another hour passed and the barton guy still hadnt returned not that she actually cared or anything but she was really tired of playing the hostage and this coulson guy was a real bore all he did was glare at her. Maybe it was time to escape now after all the drugs in her system were gone by now and she could move freely.

"hey.."  
"no" somewhat bald guy said "but you didnt even hear what I was go to say"  
"dont care just shut your mouth and be a good girl"  
"anybody ever tell you your rude I just needed a glass of water I am dying over here" she said annoyed glaring at the older man as he let out a sigh "alright fine just dont move, you move I shoot. got it" giving him a mock solute she rolled her eyes and watched him slowly get up making his way into the kitchen where she could here the tap turning on.

standing up quickly she watched the door for a second before almost tripping over the carpet in her haste to actually make it to the exit door. Grabbing the handle she had just yanked the door open and ran out when she suddenly slammed into a hard chest. "seriously" she said exasperated looking up into the barton guys eyes as he glared at her."where do you think your going sweatheart" he said grabbing her arm roughly pulling her back inside as he slammed the door shut.

"hey coulson your falling down on the job the kid almost got away" he said annoyed as coulson walked out. Kid who did he think he was talking about she was 18 hardly a kid anymore. fuming and while he was distracted she kicked hard at the back of his knee causing him to curse and lose his grip on her as she shoved him away turning towards the door they had just come from she ran.

barely making it a step when arms encircled her waist halting her in any movement. Struggling against her captor as she tried to kick at his leg again except this time to no avail.  
"coulson damnit what the hell are you doing in that kitchen a little help out here" he was stronger than her she had figured that out quickly and he was just as good at fighting as she was even though the bow was his choice of weapon.

The only thing to resort to now was dirty tactics. Grabbing his hand, she bit down hard causing him to instantly release her as he let out a cry of pain smirking she ran. reaching the door knob and throwing the door open she ran down the hall hearing his footsteps behind her but at this point she was already too far ahead as she had made it outside.

The cool air hit her face as her hair whipped all around her as she ran into the forest getting lost from view.

Clints Pov:

cursing as he ran out the door following after her he could see her red hair flying behind her as she burst outside. Picking up his speed not wanting to lose her he charged outside only to halt in his tracks. {what the hell, where did she go} looking over the forest. he scanned it for any sign of the red head but finding none. "barton" a voice spoke from behind him. turing and seeing coulson standing there with. phone in hand an annoyed look on his face "what the hell sir where were you she got away what were you doing for so long in that god damn kitchen"

"just got off the phone with the director I told him about our situation with the romanoff girl" he said slipping the phone in his pocket as he waved at barton to get back inside so that they could talk "fury wants us to bring her in hes trusting you to make her an asset barton and maybe turn her into a shield agent you only get one chance dont screw it up" he hesitated at the next part almost unsure if he should tell barton.

Taking a deep breathe before letting it out he looked at clint "The directors given us a new mission I guess somethings going down and we are in the area he wants us to look into it and he wants the Natasha girl to work with us to see if she can be trusted I hope your right about her others fury is going to murder you and no one will ever know" he said smirking. Clints face began to fall after that as he let out a groan.

{oh god kill me now} he thought as he slapped his hand to his face. "no your right I was wrong about her so wrong there is no way we can trust her I mean look around you shes gone what the hell are we gonna do now. hire ourselves a stunt double"

coulson snorted as he went over to the go back hauling it up. Beginning to pack the bag and prepare the go bag to leave he turned back towards clint "were going after her what do you think were gonna do just sit here with our thumbs up our asses get moving barton. shes your cat" he said heading towards the door. Sighing clint glared at coulsons back as he let out a grumble. "shes not my cat" he murmured in annoyance as he followed coulson to the van.

"And your the one who let her get away... not me" he whispered that last part. just a tiny bit afraid of coulson not that he would ever tell the man to catch up to the man as he through open the door jumping into the car frowning "so where are we going again we still have no idea what direction we are heading in" he said glancing at coulson who pulled out a map smirking.

"Actually barton we do. The spider lost her prey the first time which means she'll be making a move to ensnare him a second time luckily I already know where he'll be headed and where she will strike next" he said circling a place on the map. "ooh so thats why you were in the kitchen for a long time I was starting to worry that you had eaten the whole fridge" he said grinning as coulson glared "I wasnt in the kitchen for a long time. I was preparing for our mission"

Clint snorted. "huh could have fooled me that girl bit me thank you very much" grabbing the map to look at where there target was he froze. " what... are you kidding me a gala I hate fancy party's" he said leaning back letting out an exasperated sigh. "you hate anything where you have to dance and wear fancy suits suck it up barton and stop being a baby" he said starting the engine as he pulled away from the safe house starting in the direction that the black widow had headed.

End of Clint's pov:

Making it out of that dense forest Natasha sighed. not able to see Barton or that somewhat bald coulson guy anywhere in sight which meant that she had lost them for towards the road she trudged up the hill making her way back into civilization. with only one thought in mind. She had to complete her mission from the red room she had already wasted too much time and the punishment would be severe when she got back but she already knew this.

Viktor Smirnov her target must die by tomorrow that was an absolute fact and no shield agent was going to get into her way she woud kill them if she had not like this was the first time that she had even done that. Killing two shield agents would be a piece of cake.


	4. Rendezvous At The Gala

Chapter 4: Rendezvous At The Gala

sliding her invitation towards the man at the front entrance he looked at it frowning as he nodded "enjoy your evening miss romanoff"he said as she nodded her head gliding into the room elegantly and gracefully. Natasha romanoff was nothing more than an alias that she used when she went under as the black widow that's the name shield knew her as thats the name most knew her as and Natalia Romanova was just fine with that. In a way she preferred it because for once in her life she could be somebody else and not the natalia with too much blood on her hands that was just nothing more than an obedient dog for the red room.

stepping into the bright room with the music playing and the people dancing around her almost reminded her of when she did balet so very long ago. Making her way through the crowd she scoured the crowd for her target. Her eyes scanning over every face looking for just the right one. He should have been here by now there was no mistake he had to be here that much she was certain of. 

Her hair tide up in a perfect bun with only a few loose curls hanging around her face and a beautiful emerald green strapless dress that flowed nicely down her body with a slit on the left side and a pair of high heels. slowly moving through the crowd she had just spotted her target laughing with about three girls surrounding him and she had made her way over to him. when a pair of arms encircled her wait.

"Fancy meeting you here" the voice murmured low in her ear his breath caressing her neck causing her to shiver. "Really cause from where I am standing I would have thought that you had planned this" she hissed turning lightly to look at him over her shoulder giving him a death glare. Seeing the smug look on his face only aggravated her more.

Wrenching her body away from his arms she glared at him. Seething inwardly, she was not about to let this ruin her mission once again or the punishment from the red room would be even more severe."what are you doing here I hope your not planning on taking me here with all these witnesses around if you were planning something the element of surprise would have been best" she said haughtily turning away from the man in question.

A smirk slowly slid onto his face which really that damn smirk was really starting to annoy her and she really wanted to slap it off his face. The arrogance of this man really made her blood boil. "Actually my director had this brilliant idea, I really have no idea where he got it from since its crazy but he thought we could work together to take down this really bad man who decided to show up in town for a visit and he thought you might work with us if we like what we see he might even offer you a position in shield..... if your lucky" he said rushing that last part.

Blinking at him Natasha stared almost in surprise before a bubble of laughter burst from her lips as she almost fell over from shock. " are you kidding me why in the hell would I want to join shield you must be out of your mind" snorting again she turned her head to glance at him only to see if he was kidding but suddenly her breath caught in her throat.

He was looking at her now with an expression she had never seen before. One that made her freeze in her tracks and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. she had never seen such a serious expression on his or anyone's face before. One thing she knew now he wasn't lying, No he was definitely dead serious and she wasn't sure why but this thought terrified her more.

"It doesn't matter I am not interested in shield you wouldn't want me anyway" she murmured looking away from him a light blush staining her cheeks. Damn what the hell was happening to her.

Pushing away from him she pushed her way through the crowd just reaching her target when suddenly a loud scream burst through the air making her freeze up. Running now full speed and pushing people out of the way as she ran through the crowd to see what even all the commotion was. She had just made it out of the other end when she froze.

Laying there a pool of blood surrounding the mans body was viktor smirnoff. Except of course that she hadnt actually killed him, no somebody else had. Which didnt even make any sense as far as she knew he was only important to the red room unless they had sent somebody else to do the job because she had been taking to long.

A hand wrapped around her arm at that moment roughly yanking her away and past the crowd as she turned and realized at that moment that the man was barton. Pulling at her arm roughly as he yanked her through the crowd finally throwing one of the doors open he shoved her into the corridoor and continued pulling her down the hall when they had gotten far enough away he turned around sharply and shoved her against the wall. His eyes steely and hard.

"did you kill him" he said his voice rough as he looked over her face. Looking for any signs of a lie " did you?!" he said his voice getting louder and more sharp. " N..Noo but would it have mattered if I had I was planning on doing it anyway" she said glaring up at him with anger in her eyes. 

His shoulders sagged after that as he let out a sigh of relief. His head fall on her shoulder as he breathed out "thank god I was worried there for a minute that i would have to withdraw my offer for you to join shield" he whispered his breathe fanning her neck. 

A scarlet blush rising up her face. As she choked out " y..your still going on about that I already told you my answer" she choked looking up at the cealing anywhere really except that man.

Raising his head to look up into her eyes he grinned at her. "sorry sweetheart but I never give up until the very end" he said cheekily. shoving him away from her she let out an annoyed groan turning as she ran her fingers through her curly locks. "sorry but i dont have time for this I need to get back. My mission is done anyway regardless of how it was accomplished"

turning away from him. She had made to go when shuddenly he grabbed her wrist in an almost unbreakable lock. "wait dont go.... your better than this Natasha you dont have to go back there you can start over with shield. When I look at you I dont see a bad person. Just somebody that looks lost... Please Nat.. dont go" Shaking as she looked in his eyes. She shook her head. "no!!" she yelled jerking away from him her eyes wide and scared almost like a frightened rabbit. turning she ran just as she had done the last time but this time he didnt follow her he just watched her go.

Clint's pov:

" your not going after her this time, thats surprising" coulson said striding up to him from behind. sighing he looked over at coulson shaking his head. "would it have made any difference.... maybe i was wrong about her" he said glancing at the direction that she had ran to. " your not wrong barton otherwise she would have tried to kill you by now. Besides I have a feeling that well see her very soon" he said smirking

Barton glanced at coulson frowning " why do you say that?" he asked confusion showing on his face as coulsin smirk grew wider. " oh nothing except for the fact that our target is Alexei petrov" "ok what the hell does that have to do with anything" he asked trying to calculate if that name even registered in his memory databse but so far the name was completely foreign to him.{ya I got nothing} he thought glancing over at coulson waiting for him to speak "alexei petrov was a red room agent that went rogue a few weeks ago essentially hes become sort of a gun for hire and hes also become very dangerous more so than the black widow because atleast the red room kept her on a leash" taking a pause for breath. 

"they'll most likely send someone from the red room to take him out or capture him they dont like there property running free and without a leash alexei was one of the best so it stands to reason that they will send the best they have" he said glancing at barton waiting for him to catch up.

"the black widow, they'll send Natasha" he said as coulson nodded. "yes they will and she will need our help to take him down so in the end she'll have no choice but to team up with us considering how dangerous alexei is. She just doesnt know this yet, You were right Barton and I was the wrong one she can be saved I saw it in her eyes when she interacted with you" he said turning away and heading back down the way he had come.

{Even if she did help us there was still no garrantee that she would betray the red room to join shield maybe coulson was wrong.. but why do I hope that he was right more than anything} he thought shifting his body to follow after coulson they still needed to track down the target Alexei Petrov. Nat must already be heading back to the red room now she will probably be debriefed by tomorrow and then head out after Alexei.

The real problem though was that they needed to find Alexei before Natasha did either that or they needed to find Nat before she found Alexei. Either one would work. { wait when did I start calling Natasha by Nat anyway jesus this girl was gonna kill me} he thought groaning. He needed to stop getting so attached and just focus on the mission that was what he needed to do more than anything. This was just one girl anyway.


	5. Showdown At The Cathedral

Chapter 5: Showdown At The Cathedral

Natalia Romanova layed strapped to the table. panting heavily from hours of horrible and unending torture. Squeezing her eyes shut,she gritted her teeth inwardly blaming that stupid pretty boy shield agent. None of this would have even happened if she hadnt met him.

The door opened suddenly with a loud groan as she weakly raised her head ignoring the pain. "Good news Natalia we have another mission for you hopefully one that you will not screw up and it involves one of our own you remember Alexei Petrov"he said smiling at her almost in a kind way except she knew this man better and she knew that smile was nothing but a fake.

Alexei Petrov. The name faguely registered in her mind as somewhat familiar and she knew that she had met the man once or twice but other than that he was nothing but a stranger to her just another face in a crowd. " not really what does he have to do with anything" she croaked her voice slightly hoarse from overuse and the screaming that she had done earlier. " he went rogue and now I want you to hunt him down and kill him the objective is simple and you shouldnt botch this one up hopefully. you have been getting sloppy lately and this is your one chance that proves you haven't lost your edge I would hate to have to terminate you Natalia" he said unstrapping her.

Sitting up she rubbed her raw wrist from where the straps had dug into her flesh when she pulled. Swinging her legs over to the side she got up as the man handed her the folder with everything they had on Alexei Petrov. His strengths,his weaknesses, likes and dislikes. It really shouldnt be that hard to find him with the info the red room had on him. Walking out and down the corridoor she headed towards her room already beginning to prepare for the mission this time there could be no screw ups she would take Alexei out and complete her mission.

If she had to she would also take down Barton as well. If it really came to that even if for some unexplained reason she found herself dreading that task. why she was hesitant to kill Barton was beyond her she had never even met an arrogant guy like him in her entire life and he drove her crazy and yet she found herself incapable of actually kill him. If the red room found out about him there would surely be reprecussions.

Stepping out of the building and becoming Natasha she made her way down the street file in hand as she frowned. {Alexei was religious? a christian} she thought staring down at the file that said he went to saint Basils cathedral once a week on sunday. Saint Basils is only open from 11 am to 5pm so he'll probably sneak in after closing when its quiet and no one is around.

Luckily she wouldnt have to wait long since it was already sunday she just needed to wait until it got dark which would only be in about a few hours. She was surprised though that the red room knew what he did and yet they never tried to beat that out of him. {guess they didnt really care} she thought.

Clint's Pov

" A church?" Barton asked frowning at coulson as he peared out the window at the massive building a deep frowning on his face " A cathedral" Coulson said letting out an exasperated sigh. "Sooo.. Basically a church yea" glaring at Barton as he through his hands up " yea sure Barton fine. A church lets go with that. Now whatever you do try not to cause to much damage like the last time this Cathedral is old and full of history I wouldnt want you destroying it the second you walk in or fury would have my hide"he said giving a pointed glare at Barton who just frowned at him.

"Its almost 9" Coulson said glancing at the digital clock on the dashboard as Barton nodded. Pulling out his bow he popped open the door and headed towards the building. " I am gonna head towards the roof due some serveilance from up there see if I can spot our target maybe shoot him while I am at it so I dont have to destroy your precious church" he said letting out a low chuckle. 

Melting into the shadows and disapearing from sight he crept up the side of the building. Slowly pushing open one of the windows he crept into the buidling. hopping down onto the floor. Complete quiet settled over him as there wasnt a singly soul in the church{ cough...cough excuse me Cathedral. That ones for you Coulson} he thought smirking. Slowly climbing up the stairs and looking for a place to perch where he could get a fulll view of the cathedral. perching on the rafter all he had to do now was wait.

Of course that shouldnt be too long seeing as it was almost 10 now and yet there wasnt any sign of Alexei or the black widow but he was almost positive that one was about to show up at any moment now. " Do you see anything in your sights Hawkeye" Coulsons voice resounded from the ear piece in his ear. Scoping the grounds he shook his head "no nothing yet well give it another...." freezing as he could here the sound of a door being opened followed by footsteps as a figure dressed in black slowly made there way down the Cathedral and they were definitely not a red head.

"Barton, Barton?! whats wrong what happened why did you cut off answer me damn it" putting his hand to the ear piece he whispered " shhh I think Alexei just walked in... The Showdown At The Cathedral is just about to begin" A groan could be heard from Coulsons side as he let out a sigh "dear god please tell me you didnt name the fight" letting out a soft chuckle Barton shrugged. " why not every Battle needs a good name dont you think" "ya well I wish you would take this seriously and please whatever you do dont blow up this Cathedral lets not make this another Dubai incident I think all of us are still recovering from that one especially fury"

"hey whatever gets the job done right" A pause was heard over the earpierce before a loud yell could be heard " No!!! Barton Not Whatever Gets The Job Done!! You Moron" wincing at the sound of the volume he rubbed his head in annoyance. { geesh no need to yell} he thought its not like it had happened recently after all that was about 3 years ago Coulson and fury both needed to let that go. Looking down he was servaying the area now when he suddenly froze as a familiar red head suddenly and without warning caught his eye.

End Of Clint's Pov

Like a spider Natasha slowly creaped into the Cathedral stealthily and quiet watching her prey from where he was knealing in front of the statue his hands clasped together with his head bowed like he was praying. Pulling out the syringe filled with lethal spider venom. she made her way down the aisle holding the syringe tight in her hand as she crept up behind him.

Raising the syringe over her head she aimed for his neck swinging it down fast about to hit the vein head on when suddenly in less than a second Alexei whirled catching her wrist in an almost crushing grip making her gasp in shock as he squeezed tighter causing her to release the vial as it dropped to the floor shattering. With his other hand he grabbed at her throat cutting off her air supply as he sneered.

" Look at this the infamous black widow you dont look so tough now do you is this the best they could send did they really think they would get me with this" he said throwing back his head and laughing. Letting out a choked gasp she tried to grab his arm to pry it away from his neck but at this point it was no good and she was beginning to black out from lack of oxygen.

An arrow wizzed past hitting Alexei right in the shoulder. Releasing her in an instance he shouted stumbling back as he grabbed the arrow wrenching it from his shoulder in rage. Natash turned glancing up at the rafters for only about a second before she realized that it was only Barton. swinging her leg she kicked at Alexei knocking him back. Not even waiting for him to recover she swung her fist hitting him in the face before swinging her leg over his shoulder twisting onto his back as she flipped him sending them both to the ground. Having him in a lock as she hadher legs around his neck cutting off any air supply and now only waiting for him to give out and die or lose conciousness whichever came first.

She didnt see the knife come, she really didn't. She didnt even know that Alexei bothered with weapons it certainly wasnt in the report. A gleam caught her eye only for a second before she felt the blade sliding into her gut causing her to gasp as she released him in a second falling backwards in shock. Crawling backwards and holding her side where the blood was seeping through her finger tips she dragged her slowing body away as her shirt was beginning to get soaked with blood. Feeling the world sway around her as everything began to spin in circles and her breathing was getting more ragged at the moment.

Alexei stood up the bloody knife gleamed in his hand as he stalked towards her almost like a predator ready to strike when suddenly an arrow wizzed past hitting a columb causing Alexei to turn and blink as he glanced towards the rafters "haha you missed" he yelled grinning maniacally. Natasha slowly raised her weak body as she let out a smirk which was slowly stretching on her face inbetween gasps she chocked "He... Never Misses" she gasped just as a resounding beep could be heard from the arrow right before it blew up completely draw Alexei's attention as the blast shook the whole Cathedral sending him crashing back as he hit the ground. Barton let loose two more arrows right to the chest effectively ending Alexei's life.

Dropping down from the raftors with fire beginning to spread out he ran towards Natasha knealing next to her as he pressed his hands to his stomache. "hey... hey" he whispered cupping her face as he ran his thumbs over her cheeks caressing them. leaning down he nodded "just hang on ok helps on the way just keep breathing ok Natasha..... Nat" he said as she nodded her head weakly letting out a soft smile " you called me Nat" she murmured as he hoisted her up into his arms and began to cary her out of the burning building.

Coulson's pov (because I couldnt resist)

oh dear lord he thought staring wide eyed at the burning building. {what the hell have those morons done they just... I.. cant even put into words...... Fury is going to murder us this is dubai all over again} he really shouldnt have let Barton take point on this operation clearly he had no restraint or care for property damage whatsoever. The sound of sirrens could be heard in the background as he cursed. Barton better get his ass out here before the cops show up it was gonna be so hard to explain this to them.

{They would probably lock us up and if fury was mad enough he would just let us rot in there} he thought The sound of the Cathedral doors blowing open caused him to turn his head away from the sirens as he saw Barton running out of the church with Natasha Romanoff in his arms. from this distance he could barely make out the blood that seemed to be covering them both As Barton ran towards the van throwing it open. " Barton What The Hell" he roared not even caring that the russion girl was bleeding all over the seats "You Did It Again!!!!! What The Hell Is Wrong With You" he screamed pulling out of the lot fast to get away before the police showed up and blamed them for the building on fire even though it would be there fault.

Barton snapped his gaze up to glare steely at Coulson his face white and almost all the color gone as he held the young red head in his arms gripping her tightly. "not now ok she needs medical attention she's been stabbed pretty badly and its all my fault I thought she could handle it so I was gonna let her finish him but I screwed up and underestimated this guy" Coulson let out a sigh driving down the road probably breaking a dozen speed violations just to get to the destination that he needed to get at. " where are we going" Barton croaked glancing down at Natasha's face to see if she was still breathing.

"Budapest" was all Coulson said as he gripped the stearing wheel hard picking up the speed "Budapest.... why Budapest thats hours away she needs a hospital now" Coulson whilred glaring at the archer almost fed up with him "there is a shield base in Budapest and despite how much blood she lost its starting to slow downn at the rate of blood loss it will take about a day before she dies we have time espially at the speed im going if she goes to a normal hospital the red room will find her and take her back so right now shield is her best option so quiet down Barton where going to budapest"

Yes they were going to Budapest the place that started it all though at the time nobody in the car actually new this.

 


	6. Magical Place Called Budapest

Chapter 6: Magical Place Called Budapest

"Clear!!!"  
"Again!" the voice yelled.  
"Clear!!"The lone bleat continued.  
"one more time Clear!!!" The slow steady beat of a heartbeat began.

Sunlight streamed in through the window arousing Natasha from a very deep slumber that she had been in. Feeling groggy and very drugged up almost barely even able to lift her head off of the pillow. raising her head weakly she looked over and saw that the clock on the wall read 10.25 am. so it was morning and she was definitely in a hospital. The question though was how the hell had she even gotten here. The tonly thing she could really remember was getting stabbed in the side, followed by a lot of pain and then everything after that just becomes a blurry mess.

The door to her left opens abruptly startly her. turning her head abruptly a slight flash of vertigo takes over before its gone. her face paling slightly as she felt a little sick to her stomache but decided at that moment to push the nausea down and focus. Barton stood in the doorway looking right at her with a quizzical stare as he walked in looking slightly disheveled. Also kinda hot which was really unfair to her she probably looked a wreck........ wait what did she just think inwardly slapping herself for think he was hot she tore her gaze back to his face and frowned. Going over to the table 

closing the door behiind him she opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a hoarse croak. Going over to the table he picked up a glass of water and handed it to her "here" he said as she grabbed it from him her fingers brushing his slightly which made her shiver for reasons she didn't even want to think about. swallowing the water slowly as she chugged down the glass in less than a minute finally setting the glass down she took a deep breath.

"where the hell are we" she croaked her voice still underuse.Standing up and still not saying anything he went over towards the curtains pulling them aside farther so she could see out side he looked back smirking at her as he said. " welcome to Budapest, I've heard its a magical place or so im told." he said plopping down on one of the empt chairs with a sigh.

"you look tired" Natasha mused looking at his eyes which looked like he hadnt slept in a few days as well as his clothes which looked like they had a few wrinkles in them." Yea well thats all your fault. you almost died you know your heart stopped and everything. There was so much blood" he said hoarsely shaking his head as he looked away from her. smirking at him she teased "Awww was the little hawk worried" she grinned at him smirking but suddenly froze as he slammed his fist onto the table in aggravation.

"Damn it Nat is this a joke to you do you even care about your life you could have died does that even mean anything to you god you are the most selfish person in the world dont you even know that there are people who care about you, who would lose it if something happened to you!!" he roared his face almost red as Natasha stood frozen her eyes wide in shock and surprise.

"No clint there has never been anyone like that in my entire life. The red room never allowed connections like that" she whispered her head hanging low as her hair fell in front of her face. " well you dont have to worry about that anymore because I care about you Nat..... congratulations looks like you made your first friend before you know it you'll get tons more that will care about you just as much as i do trust me" He said grinning at her with a smile that made her insides turn upside down. what the hell was happening to her?

Friends huh? for some reason that she couldnt explain that word didnt exactly sit well with her it almost made her uneasy but as of right now she didnt exactly know why. The sound of hurried footsteps drew her attention away from Barton. Glancing towards the door as it burst open and Coulson came barreling in almost out of breathe. Standing up fast Barton knocked over the chair frowning. "what is it whats happened?" Barton said looking at Coulsons face for any sign of what was going on.

"The Director, Fury he's just arrived and he looks pissed, worse than he did during the dubai incidient" Barton to her right collapsed in his chair groaning as he threw his hands up covering his face. Frowning she glanced at Barton "how long was I out for?" she said frowning. Realizing at that point that she should've asked that question almost right after she had woken up but somehow she had forgot. 

"about 3 days?" Barton mumbled through his hands letting out a sigh. The reaction from her that followed wasnt pleasant at all. "What?!" she screamed jumping out of bed. which of course was a mistake due to the injury that hadn't even come close to healing. Falling out of bed ungracefully she hit the floor hard grabbing at her side which throbbed with untold agony as she almost blacked out a second time from the amount of pain she was now experiencing.

"What are you insane?! why the hell did you just jump out of bed you cant be moving yet? are you crazy?!" Barton yelled jumping out of his chair to rush to her side. knealing next to her, he wrapped his arm around her waist gently pulling her up and into his chest holding her there for only a second as he slowly brought her back to the bed to help her get in. "This is bad I havent checked in with the red room for 3 days. They'll come after me now like they did with Alexei" she mummbled ignoring the fact that Barton had pulled the covers back over her.

"The Red Room won't get you not while your at shield" Coulson said glancing at Barton with a frown on his face. He Clearly hadnt like what he saw from Barton but Natasha didnt really understand why nor was she going to be concerned with it. " why the hell is fury coming here?" Barton said looking over at Coulson now with a worried expression on his face. " Oh I dont know maybe its because you spared your targets life when you were suppose to kill her or maybe its the fact that you started a fire in Saint Basils Cathedral." Coulson let out a deep sigh rubbing his eyes tiredly. " This time you royaly fucked up Barton" He mummbled Glancing at the Natasha. The red head currently occupy the bed.

The door burst open with a sudden force at that moment that it slammed into the wall as a man stepped in with a scowel on his face and an eye patch covering one eye. Glaring directly at her fiercely. She met his gaze completely unwavered almost glaring back. Tearing his gaze from her he yelled " Coulson, Barton both of you out in the hall now!" he snapped pointing his finger towards the door. At that moment she almost laughed at both of the agents as they looked like kicked puppies except she realized now probably wasn't a good time to laugh even she could read the atmosphere when she wanted to.

"Are The Both Of You Out Of Your Minds?! do you know the mess that I had to clean up because of you two! this is Dubai all over again.... No This Is Worse Than Dubai. And now because of you we have to deal with the red room I dont have time for this shit.... Really Barton you started a fire in a cathedral and almost burnt it to the ground what the hell were you thinking you Jackass I should fire both of you. Your suppose to be his handler Coulson so incidents like Dubai dont happen again.... Where the hell were you. All you had was a simple Mission kill the Black Widow. How did it turn into this cluster fuck?!" 

Natasha winced glancing towards the door as she let out a smirk. Looks like someone is in trouble she thought. She could hear both Barton and Coulsons voices in the background saying something but their voices were too muffled to hear. Not that it mattered though because a second later the door was thrown open as The director strode in glaring at her. "You! Follow me" He said snapping his fingers. frowning at the gesture that reminded her of someone call a dog before she could even retort Barton pushed passed the director turning to face him. " sir she cant move yet her inguries are still too great she could pull her stitches open if she moves now" he said holding his hands out towards fury. who gave him a fierce death glare.

"Alright fine if your so worried about her why dont you carry her Barton so she doesnt pull any of her god damn stitches there you see what I did I solved all our problems now move your asses" He yelled whirling as he strode out of the room as Barton turned and faced Natasha who at this point had just given up on carring. As scary as Fury was he was still no match for the fear that came with the people from the red room. She could definitely deal with Fury's anger.

Glancing at Barton who was walking over to her slightly nervous as he twisted his hands together " hey... do you mind" he said waving his hand over her. Letting a smirk slowly stretch across her lips. " sure go ahead" she said pausing for a second before deadpanning . "but if you drop me I'll kill you and no one will ever know" grinning at him. This time it was Bartons turn to grin. "You wont do that you like me too much Nat" he said scooping her up into his arms completely surprising her.

Ignoring him she frowned feeling a blush coming on from being this close to him. why the hell did he exhibit a reaction like this from her she had never had this problem before and its not like this is the first man she had been around. She has been around other men who were red room agents and yet this man did weird things to her. He also felt very warm she could feel his body heat radiating off him. Resting her head on his chest as he carried her out she let out a sigh. Not even paying attention to the direction that they were headed.

Grabbing the door handle Barton pushed open the door at the end of the hall. Raising her head fury was already waiting in one of the empty seats as Barton set her an the chair across from fury . {so this is the interrogation part of the evening is it} she thought smirking inwardly to herself. "Natalia Romanova or do you prefer Natasha Romanoff I am not sure which one you go by anymore" So he knew her real name not that she was actually surprised she had been Natalia for so long in the red room and Natasha had always been an alias but she didnt want to be Natalia anymore. she didnt want to be the red rooms puppet and Natalia was only ever going to remind her of the red room in truth and she had known this for awhile, she wanted more that anything to be Natasha Romanoff the fearless Black Widow. " Natasha.... Romanoff thats the name I want that other name doesnt exist anymore shes dead" Looking up into fury's eyes waiting for a reaction he smirked "good" he said.

"I guess Barton was right about you although he could have brought you in more quietly" he said turning to glare at Barton who grinned sheepishly. "That was my fault I..I didnt know what I wanted I thought I had No choice. I ran several times but... Barton never stopped chasing me I guess Im tired of running.... Sir" she said that last part almost hesitantly as if she wasnt sure she was aloud to say it.she didnt even know what was going to happen to her now but honestly she didnt care.

"Well Barton always was stubborn. He never knew when to give up I guess that isnt always a....." An explosion sounded in the background shaking the whole facility. Barton who had been standing up stumbled over his eyes wide "what the hell?!" fury said standing up and knocking over his chair in the process. The door burst open as Coulson barelled in panting " The... red... room they found us they must be... here for Natasha" he said in between gasps. Flinching she looked towards fury who had turned his attention back to her wondering if he would give her up.

"Do you want to be an agent" he said looking her dead in the eye "what.... what are you talking..." glaring he slammed his hands onto the table "I said do you want to be an agent its a yes or no answer" "yes.... yes I do" she blurted without even thinking "Great you step out those doors your an agent of shield and since Barton brought you in he can be your partner.... Good luck with that" he said grabbing her hand and shaking it. Barton smirked at her leaning over as he said "I should warn you ahead of time that every partner i've ever had has quite after their first mission with me just ask Maria hill about mine and hers first mission together The Dubai incident she quite right after that" he said smirking. There it was again the Dubai incident Natasha needed to remind herself later to ask Barton about it because it was really driving her nuts.

"This is our first Mission together and I havent quite yet" Natasha said smirking as she looked up at him "Well give it some time" he said "Or maybe you were just waiting for the right partner" she said pushing herself up and ignoring the pain as she strode towards the door turning abruptly to look at him. " well Barton what the hell were you waiting for?!" she yelled pushing open the door as the sound of gunshots could be heard in the distance down the hall. " So demanding" he teased urning him a slap on the back of the head."

"Yea I think those two will work well together" Fury murmured to himself."Either that or they'll kill each other first" Coulson said beside him smirking as Natasha and Clint both rushed off into the battle. Despite the fact that neither of them were actually armed with any weapons. Fury and Coulson looked at each other frowning as they came to the same conclusion. "Do you think they'll be alright without any guns or weapons" Coulson said frowning. Shrugging his shoulders fury turned "I'm sure they'll be alright and if not well there is always more where they came from" he said smirking as somewhere another explosion rang in the background.

 


	7. Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 7: Till Death Do Us Part  
The sound of gunfire echoed down the corridor but Natasha wasn’t really afraid. She had been in worse situations before. Although she couldn’t help but worry that the red room would take her and she would never see Barton again. She didn’t know why but that thought terrified her more than anything. She was also unarmed so she would have to rely on her skills in hand to hand combat. Which she wasn’t worried about since she already exceled in it better than an actually gun anyway. Barton steered to the right heading down the opposite hall. “where are you going idiot?!” she yelled knowing that the battle was in the opposite direction. “I need to get my bow!” he shouted disappearing from sight. He needs to get his bow, of course he does she thought dryly. Shaking her head, she ran towards the sound of gun fire and smoke. Another explosion rang out shaking the whole facility.  
Stumbling she grabbed the wall. At the rate this was going the red room would end up blowing up the whole facility. Turning the corner fast a fist coming out of nowhere hit the side of her head knocking her back against the wall. A hand at her throat she let out a gasp staring into the eyes of Viktor Ivanov the very man who had tortured her and had assigned her missions when she had been with the red room. “Natalia I am so disappointed in you and you had such high hopes” he said caressing her cheek softly.  
“The names Natasha!” she yelled slamming her knee into his chest knocking him backwards as the wind was knocked out of him. Grabbing his arm and twisting it upward until she heard a pop. With her other hand she dealt a blow to his throat cutting off his air supply. A low chuckle sounded from Ivanov his eyes slowly looking up at her with a grin on his face.  
“You belong to us Natalia no matter where you go we will always find you and I will make sure to kill everyont you had ever cared about including that boy that you seemed to have developed feelings for” Releasing him in shock almost as if she herself had gotten burned. He took this opportunity swinging his leg out hard as it connected with hers she let out a shout falling backwards as she hit the ground. She felt hands close around her throat as her airway began to get cut off. “you belong to us Natalia and no one else!” he snarled spittle flying from his lips.  
Noticing a knife hanging at his waist she slowly reached for it her hands wrapping around it. Yanking it from its holster she stabbed hard at his shoulder. Letting out a roar he fell back as she scrambled to her feet. Running down the hall she had reached the end. When suddenly she froze in her tracks seeing all those guns point at her. Where the hell are you Barton she thought staring at all the guns. “It’s over Natalia your coming back with us and you don’t get a choice” he said smiling at her. An arrow flew past hitting one of the men. Turning to watch him fall over. Her eyes widened for a second before a smirk slowly drew on her face. Barton she thought. Looking up to meet Ivanov’s eyes she grinned. “Looks like the cavalry has arrived” Dropping down from one of the air vents Barton grinned. “hey you weren’t planning on starting the party without me were you” snorting she rolled her eyes. “way to make an entrance Barton you plan this one all on your own” “yep just waiting for the right time” grinning cheekily at her. Smirking she got in her fighting stance and looked Ivanov straight in the eye. “ok but just to let you know he’s mine” she said pointing a finger straight at the man who had destroyed her life for years. “hey I thought I was yours” Barton whined making her blush even though she knew that he wasn’t actually serious.  
“Shut up Barton and just concentrate would you” she said. Ivanov had taken that moment while she was distracted and lunged towards her knife gleaming outright. Twisting to avoid the blade she cursed as it ripped through her shirt grazing her side. “damn it Barton this is what I meant by concentrate you idiot” “Ha-ha but it’s more fun the way I do it” he said firing off a round of arrows at the men behind her. Ivanov swung again attempting to stab her in the neck.  
Grabbing his arm, she twisted downward hard making him release the blade. What she didn’t expect though was the moment he grabbed her hair pulling hard until she fell against his chest. Holding her in a tight lock she gritted her teeth and brought her elbow down hard into his chest loosening his hold on her she brought her elbow down once more this time smashing it against his nose. She could hear the crack followed by the blood rushing from his nose.  
She never got to enjoy it though. The sound of a gun shot rang out followed by the sound of something hitting the floor. Shoving hard at Ivanov’s chest to see what had happened behind him. She let out a shout almost falling to her knees “No!!!” she screamed rushing towards Barton who was gripping his side where he had been shot “H... hey… Nat don’t freak out ok it’s not that bad” He said in between gasps as he pressed harder against his side. A clicking noise was heard behind her turning slowly she saw Ivanov with a gun pointed right at her head. “So what are you going to shoot me now” she whispered looking him dead in the eye. “Go ahead I don’t care anymore I am never going back to that place you Bastard ever again”  
A hand slowly grabbed hers slick with blood and sweat. Drawing her eyes away from Ivanov’s she glanced at Barton’s face as he smiled. Slowly placing his hand on her cheek he caressed her face his thumb lightly brushing her cheek. “hey” he whispered softly. “you need to go with him ok, Leave I’ll be fine and when I get better I’ll come for you and I always keep my promises but I…. couldn’t bare it if you died so you have to leave with him ok and I’ll save you I swear” he choked as tears began to run down her cheeks. Without thinking her mind went completely blank leaning forward fast she crushed her lips against his. Feeling his soft lips against hers as she slowly kissed him savoring the feeling of his lips against hers. Starting to deepen the kiss she was yanked hard away from him. Being dragged away as she let out a shout. “why did you…. Do that” he said touching his lips in shock. Blurting out the first thing that came to mind so she wouldn’t be rejected. “just in case you died at least you got one last kiss” Pulling on her again she screamed. Tears streaming down her cheeks as she was being pulled and yanked further away from him.  
“I’ll come for you! I swear so no matter what wait for me I promise I’ll find you” he shouted as she was being dragged out side kicking and screaming. “Alright enough of this we got the girl” Ivanov said glancing at Natasha. “Just blow it all up” he said turning to walk back towards the van. “No!!!” Natasha screamed thrashing even more. “Please I’ll go with you quietly just don’t kill him please!” she sobbed. “Please” she choked in a whisper. “Sorry you already had your chance to come quietly.” Turning towards the men he nodded. “Blow it up” he said walking the rest of the way to the van not looking back.  
She knew the feeling now she had been trying for days to figure out what it was and now she knew. Love…. She Loved Clint Barton more than anything and that would never change she knew that he was the only one she could ever love and the only thing that good possibly separate them was…. An explosion rang out.  
Till Death Do Us Part.


	8. The Unmade Blackwidow

Chapter 8: The Unmade Black Widow  
Numb, she felt numb and hollow inside. Clint Barton was dead. The shield base completely blown up before her eyes. There was nothing left but the fire that had raged before her. He couldn’t have made it out in time, No one could have. They were all dead.  
Strapped to a chair now waiting for the red room to do their worst but she didn’t care anymore none of it mattered. Barton was dead and all she wanted to do now was die as well now. Only one thing could have separated them death. Barton would never make good on his promise. He couldn’t anymore because he was dead.  
She was still in Budapest and they hadn’t taken her far maybe it wasn’t worth the effort or maybe they thought she would escape again. The red room had bases all over Europe and even one in Budapest. Which was where she was now. They were a lot like that organization Hydra in that aspect except even she doubted they were that powerful.  
The door opened with a groan. Walking into the room Viktor Ivanov looked her over and said. “are you going to behave now, Natalia you have nothing left so it would be best if you stopped resisting” Glaring at him fiercely she snarled. “I will never listen to you not anymore. You can’t control me. I will never do anything for the red room anymore you should just kill me now and get it over with” Slowly he caressed her cheek smiling.  
“Don’t worry soon it won’t matter what you want because then you won’t have a choice anymore” he said tightening the straps around her arms and legs. “what are you… what are you talking about. What are you planning on doing” Yanking on the straps she glared at him. “What are you going to do!” she screamed thrashing against the binds now terrified. “we are going to making you better Natalia, more improved and without those silly emotions to get in the way. You’re going to be new and improved. Made into a better model”.  
No! she couldn’t let them do this. She didn’t want to forget Barton. More than anything she didn’t want to forget him. They could do anything to her torture her, beat her and even kill her but the one thing that she couldn’t have was them taking her memories away. Not those precious few that she had with him. She didn’t want to be this perfect killing machine that they were going to turn her into.  
Ivanov had left the room leaving her alone to her thoughts. Confused and terrified was the only real feeling coursing through her head and now it would be her last. The door opened again and she could hear the sound of a cart being pushed in. Raising her head, she saw tools of all kind laying on the cart but she didn’t really know what any of them were for.  
“Alright shall we begin Natalia” he said lifting up one of the tools as fear began to settle in her stomach making her uneasy. “Wait please don’t you can’t do this please. Don’t take my memories from me please!” she shouted as her cries fell on deaf ears. He lifted up one of the tools and smiled at her.  
The sound of screaming could be heard throughout the whole compound horrible and retched screaming that didn’t stop for hours. It just continued on endlessly until finally it stopped.  
Clint’s Pov  
Opening his eyes slowly he groaned. Raising his head from the ground he winced as his head spun with Nausea. “Hey don’t try to move you were shot after all it may take a while to recover your just lucky it wasn’t that bad.” The voice spoke somewhere in the distance. Turning his head to the sound of the voice he saw Coulson leaning over him. A grim expression on his face.  
“How …How am I alive” He croaked his voice hoarse and dry. “Because of me you moron!” A voice snapped somewhere behind Coulson raising his head even higher despite the pain he frowned seeing Fury leaning against a wall glaring at him. Looking around his surroundings he noticed they appeared to be in some underground area they certainly weren’t in shield anymore. He had blacked out almost right after they had grabbed Nat and had taken her away from him. Right after she had kissed him. The kiss hadn’t meant anything to her but to him it was something he would always remember.  
He was coming for her. He had made her a promise and he always kept his promises and he especially wouldn’t break this one. He was never going to let that girl down. The woman he loved because yes he knew now that he did love her and it wasn’t just lust he knew the difference. She just needed to be patient a little longer and then he was coming for her.  
“when shield blew up, well right before shield blew up Fury had found you on the ground unconscious and he had dragged you to a hidden hatch on the floor and that’s how we escaped shield is always ready for things like these we have escape hatches and exits all over the base this one leads into an underground sewer system as you can tell by the smell” Fury stood up straight frowning as he said. “I’m surprised you didn’t know about this hatch usually whenever you wonder off and do you’re little exploring you find all the exits in less than an hour” Fury was right. Not that he was going to tell him that.  
“yea well I was a little preoccupied at the time worrying about Nat I didn’t exactly have time to explore or anything” he said annoyed. “We don’t have time for this we need to find Nat now before they do something worse to her than they already have” he said pushing himself up to stand despite the pain.  
“God damn it Barton would you wait a minute we don’t even know where they are you idiot and rushing off isn’t going to help her we need a plan first and we need to find out where they are” he said “I know where they are they haven’t left Budapest I know this it would be too risky and too many chances for Natasha to escape they probably brought her to one of their bases in Budapest most likely” Barton said. Ignoring Fury as he stumbled through the dark looking for an exit.  
“well that’s great why don’t we just scour all of Budapest until we find her she should turn up eventually or better yet why don’t we activate the tracker I put in her” He said holding out his phone with a serious expression on his face. “Wait what when did you put a tracker in her why the hell did you do that” he said glaring at Fury.  
“ Hey you should be lucky I did, Not glaring at me besides When she first came to the base I didn’t trust her I told Coulson to put that tracker in her when she was getting her stitches done in case she betrayed then we could just follow her to the red room base. No harm no foul” he said shrugging his shoulders. “Nat’s going to kill you when she finds out you know” “I think she should just be grateful really that were bothering to come get her. Unfortunately I don’t have reception here well have to get out of these sewers first before we can find out where she is being held”  
That made a good point alright Nat please just hold on a little longer I am coming for you and I promise that I will save you and that is a promise that I don’t intend to break.


	9. Lose Your Mind

Chapter 9: Lose Your Mind  
Making it out of the sewers Barton frowned turning to look at fury. “Well what do you got where the hell is she” He said reaching for the director’s phone who growled and shoved him away. “Just give me a damn minute would you I am still trying to find a signal you moron” he said holding the phone up high hoping to get some bars.  
“hmm yea alright I think I got it haha alright it looks like there base is deep in one of the forest in Budapest guess they don’t want that many people to see what they’re doing, more private this way anyway here” he said handing the phone to Barton who frowned making a mental image of the map in his head.  
Handing the phone back to fury he turned and headed in the opposite direction towards where the map had been pointing “hey what the hell do you think you’re doing before we rush in there we at least need a plan and while we are at it let me call shield in for backup there is no way just the 3 of us can take on the red room alone we’ll need help” Snorting Barton turned rolling his eyes. “I didn’t ask for either of your help I am going alone and I am not waiting for some god damn shield agents to get here by then it might be too late” Grabbing Barton by the arm he pulled back hard.  
“I don’t care if you asked for our help or not you are not going in there unprepared and alone do you understand me Agent Barton” he snapped staring him down with his one good eye. Gritting his teeth, he glared at fury turning away from him sharply “Fine we’ll wait but if there not here by tonight then I am going with or without you” Coulson sighed knowing that both of them were stubborn when they wanted to be.  
“We just need to regroup and think of a plan one that won’t get us killed, Natasha is strong Barton she can take care of herself she has never needed anybody else before in her life I am sure she will be fine” Barton looked up a serious expression on his face as he said “Yea I know and maybe that’s the problem” Leaning back against the wall Barton sighed and wondered if Natasha was ok”

Her mind was a blank canvas new and unused. She didn’t feel anything not love, not hate, not fear or sorrow it was just an empty pit. She didn’t know much all she really knew was her name Natalia Romanova and the fact that she was a lethal killer that worked for the red room. All other information was unimportant anyway.  
Voices sounded from behind the door. “what the hell do you mean that there still alive I thought you were supposed to blow that damn building up you idiots do I have to get everything done myself” he roared as the sound of the door slammed open. Ivanov stood in the doorway nodding to her. “Natalia I have a job for you and this one will be fairly simple for you to accomplish” he said walking towards her.  
The target was simple kill Clint Barton she could do this easily and the only special skill that he had seemed to be with a bow or at least that’s what this report said as well he may be accompanied by two others the director of shield as well as a Phil Coulson. Honestly she didn’t know why the red room was sending her after This hawkeye guy why the hell didn’t they just send her after the director after all he seemed like he might be way more important but who was she to judge. She didn’t need to go far too find this Barton guy’s file he was already on his way to the red room and now all she had to do was wait.  
Barton had Lied. The truth was, He couldn’t wait around for shield and he couldn’t wait around till fury and Coulson came up with a plan and so while they were distracted he snuck out which really wasn’t all that hard they had been more focused on other things anyway it was simple really. All he cared about was finding Natasha anyway nothing else mattered.

Trekking through the forest all he had on was his bow slung over his shoulder along with a set of arrows on his back and a boot knife strapped to his thigh he really didn’t have any artillery but none of that was important anyway. He didn’t need artillery all he needed to do was get in grab Natasha and get the hell out there honestly this was a pretty simple and cut mission minus all the red room agents waiting to take him down.  
He thought Dubai was a tough one the truth being though was that Budapest might even be a bigger cluster fuck than that mission had been and he had literally caused a flood when he accidentally destroyed the Al ghafat reservoir and let’s just say that he had nearly drowned every living creature for miles and he definitely killed some plants and because of that incident he was now banned from ever returning to Dubai at the rate this was going he was also never going to be able to return to Budapest again and possibly Moscow if the Russians find out he was the one who burnt down there Church {Cathedral…… sorry Couslon.}  
Making it through the forest he had just stepped out when the sound of a gunshot was heard as it hit him right in the left shoulder cursing he jumped to the side searching for cover as the sound of footsteps of someone stepping outside the compound were heard.  
“I wouldn’t try to hide little hawk unless you want to make this more painful than it already is” A feminine voice said causing him to freeze in his tracks. No way it couldn’t be could it there was no way that voice. Natasha? But she would have never hurt him. They were partners for however brief and she had even told him that she would never go back to the red room ever. What the hell was happening?  
“hey little hawk what are you waiting for?” The voice yelled into the woods slowly standing up he froze almost in shock. “Natasha?” he whispered staring at her cold steely eyes. “what the hell did they do to you?” this was all his fault, all of it he was to late the girl he had once known was gone just by looking at her eyes all he could see was a killer. “Natasha who the hell is Natasha my name is Natalia Romanova and I am going to kill you now little hawk” she sneered holding the gun up and pointing it right at him. He froze staring down at the gun almost terrified “Natasha its ok no matter what happens I forgive you ok this isn’t your fault they did something to you its ok I forgive you” he whispered looking her in the eye.  
“You forgive me? You forgive me!” she yelled gripping the gun tighter in her hand “who the hell do you think you are I don’t even know you. You are nothing to me, nothing “she said as her face relaxed in a very calm and cold demeanor. “I don’t know who the hell Natasha is, but she is not me “she said raising the gun towards him. The sound of a gunshot was heard in the dark, followed by a deafening silence.


	10. One Final Bang

Chapter 10: One Final Bang  
Falling to the ground Barton felt the bullet pierce through to his right side cursing inwardly he grabbed his side wincing in pain. Natasha was gone and he could see nothing familiar in her eyes. He couldn’t let her become a monster he wouldn’t. Pulling out two arrows fast he fired. Natasha jumped to the side trying to evade both arrows but to no luck. One the arrows pierced her left thigh while the other pierced her right in the chest. Gasping she fell back pulling the arrows out. as she fell to her knees.  
If he couldn’t save her then he had no choice, he wouldn’t let her sink any further into darkness he would end this now so Natasha could finally be free. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up into a standing position drawing out two more arrows. Pulling his drawstring back he aimed just a little bit to the right. Just past her left ear and fired. This time Natasha was prepared lunging towards the right side to avoid the arrows as they whizzed past her she smirked. “Looks like you missed bird boy” she said grinning at him.  
A low chuckle came from Barton. “I never miss sweetheart” he growled as a low being sound came from behind Natasha turning around she frowned as the two arrows were stuck in the wall of the building a red light flashing. What the…… An explosion rang out blowing up the entire base in one go. The blast sending Natasha flying into the arrow. She crashed hard into the ground a few feet away confused and disoriented from the blast that shook her to her entire core.  
Gone all of it was gone, Natasha let out a growl pulling a blade from her boot she narrowed her eyes. “You destroyed everything, Everything and now I am going to destroy you” she screamed lunging towards him crashing into his body sending them both crashing to the snowy covered ground. Landing on top of him her breath mingled with his. The air frigid and cold from winter as overhead it began to snow and yet neither of them even seemed to notice.  
Bringing the blade down hard Barton caught her wrist as both of them struggled with each other. Barton could feel the blade edging closer to his throat. Feeling the tip touching his jugular a small trickle of blood running down his neck. Both of them panting with exhaustion and blood loss. There breathes mingled together. Sweat dripping down his brow due to the heat of the flames behind him as well as the struggle he was now facing with Natasha.  
Gripping her wrist tighter, He pushed back hard causing the blade to inch upward a little bit. Natasha who was on top of him smashed her teeth together. Trying to push down a little bit more even though she was getting light headed due to the blood loss.  
Tears fell from her cheeks falling onto Barton’s face running down his neck. She was crying but for some reason that she couldn’t place, she didn’t actually know why. “your crying Natasha why?” Barton whispered reaching up with his free hand to slowly wipe away the tears. “Shut up!” she yelled pushing harder on the blade causing Barton to use both hands to stop the blade from going any farther.  
“Stop running Natasha you know why it’s because you remember somewhere deep down you remember me and you don’t want to do this you don’t want to hurt me” he pleaded with her trying to break her out of this brainwashing haze he wanted more than anything for her to remember him Because it killed him. Her not knowing who he was it literally killed him inside.  
“You don’t know me!” she screamed. “You don’t know me! And my name is not Natasha!” She yelled once more. Stunning Barton who released her wrists in shock. Taking this opportunity, she slammed the blade down hard right on his right shoulder. Letting out a shout of pain as she dug the Blade in deeper blood seeping up through the blade he choked. “Please Natasha this isn’t you not anymore” he whispered his eyes getting heavy.  
“Stop it just stop I don’t know you” she hissed gripping the blade tighter as she dug it in her and yet there was a slight pleading tone within her voice almost as if she was begging him to stop. “Do… you… do you remember when we first met after you woke up from being knocked unconscious due to the drugs that had been in your system do you remember what I had called you…. Little Spider that’s what I said at the time I had wondered why such a small and petite girl could really be someone as dangerous as The black widow honestly I think I would have been disappointed if you had been a small and feeble girl it really takes the fun out of it doesn’t it? Little spider” he said in between gasps. Little Spider, little spider those words kept repeating in her head over and over like a drum.  
{Well played little spider but I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you…. What were you saying little spider about you winning?} “Remember who you are Nat?” he said sluggishly finding it difficult to keep his eyes open with the amount of blood loss that he has experienced. {Helps on the way just keep breathing ok Natasha…. Nat! You called me Nat, Damn it Nat is this a joke to you do you even care about your life…, Well you don’t have to worry about that anymore because I care about you Nat}  
So many images flashed through her mind. Releasing the blade, she fell backwards. Her head pounding fiercely as she couldn’t stop the onslaught of memories. Gripping her head, she screamed a hoarse raw and powerful scream. Until it all stopped and then she sagged almost in relief.  
Raising her head slowly wet tears streaming down her face she gasped. “Clint!” she choked stumbling over to him. She wrapped her hands around the hilt of the blade effortlessly pulling it from his shoulder and tossing it aside. Collapsing next to him on the snow she lay there weak and numb as both of them bled out. Blood splattered on the pure white snow. Reaching out she touched his pale frozen cheek whispering “I am sorry I am so sorry for everything it would have been better if we had never met” She whimpered slightly as Barton grasped her hand turning his head.  
“Don’t say that Nat please don’t I will never regret meeting you, I was just going through the motions until I met you. You made me feel alive” pressing his forehead against hers he took a deep breath. Their breaths mingled together. Slowly lowering his head towards hers he pressed his lips against hers. Feeling how soft and supple they were knowing that the end for both of them was probably very near. Slowly she reciprocated the kiss His lips molding against hers. The kiss was slow and leisurely not something you would expect from either of them but they both were critically injured. Feeling his tongue against her lips he coaxed them open slowly feeling the inside of her mouth their tongues did a slow dance as finally running out of breath they drew apart slowly. Both of them out of breath from the lack of air.  
pressing his forehead to hers. Both of them exhausted and their breathing ragged. His eyes staring straight into hers he whispers. “I……You” he breathes as she frowns her hearing and everything else including her mind failed to work properly. {what did he say?} she thought not able to hearing because she felt herself sinking into darkness.  
A clicking noise drew her attention away from Barton as she froze. Viktor Ivanov stood there a gun pointed right at the both of them laying there helpless in the snow. His body half burnt and his hair completely singed in a way he kind of looked like two face from the dark knight series. “No more chances Natalia” he sneered looking at her with loathing and hatred. “I won’t play anymore games you two are dead and now Natalia I am going to make you watch as I kill this man front of your eyes. You’re going to suffer by the time I finish with you” he hissed cocking his gun at Barton.  
A gun shot rang out breaking the once deafening silence. Natasha flinched expecting the worse almost not even able to look at Barton. Slowly turning to face him she froze because Clint was very much alive and not dead at all. Looking back towards Ivanov she froze. Laying on the ground with a pool of blood around him. His eyes stared up at the sky glassy and unfocused. Viktor Ivanov was dead.  
Collapsing against the snow she laid there next to Barton who slowly lowered the gun that he had been hiding at his side. The very gun that she had dropped during their battle. Laying there together in the snows their breathes mingled in the cold. Laying side by side in the end just as it should be.  
Neither of them had to say anything in the end, nothing else mattered they just needed each other. The long minutes felt like hours as their bodies slowly began to fail them. “So this is what…. It feels…. like to die?” Barton murmured finally breaking the peaceful silence. “Just when I thought…. It was finally nice and quiet you had to go and break…. That silence you never do shut up…. Do you?” she said softly turning to look over at him. “Sorry I just really hate the silence?” he whispered as both of them began to fade out slowly losing control over there functions.  
The sound of a large Quinjet could be heard in the distance.


	11. Get The Hell Out Of Budapest

Chapter 11: Get The Hell Out Of Budapest

Footsteps somewhere in the distance low and quiet. She wasn’t dead that of course was the first thought that she had. A low beeping noise resounded somewhere in the distance followed by a bright light behind her eyes. Slowly prying her eyes open she could see that the light was coming from the window.

Blinking rapidly, she winced at the harsh light turning her head away only to see that she was hooked up to an Iv and a heart monitor was wheeled in next to her. She was in a hospital bed but really she couldn’t even for the life of her remember how she had gotten there.

She should be dead bleeding out into the snow. It felt like a dream now and most of it was foggy she couldn’t really piece together what had happened the blood loss must have made her half delirious. She remembered stabbing Clint and him pleading with her. She had a vague recollection of Ivanov but it still felt like there were bits and pieces missing from her memories but her brain was so foggy that she couldn’t think straight.

Clint?! She thought sitting up fast despite the wave of dizziness that made her want to throw up. He had been worse off than she had been where the hell was he. He couldn’t be dead she would never forgive herself if she had killed him.  
She remembered there had been a lot of blood and he had definitely been worse than her. Ripping her Iv out she stumbled falling out of bed and ignoring the pain blossoming in her chest where the arrow had pierced her.

Grabbing onto the bed she pulled herself up despite the pain and agony she felt in that second she had to know how Clint was doing nothing else mattered except him. Gripping the wall tightly she leaned against it gritting her teeth as sweat dripped down her brow from exhaustion. Her thigh burned with pain as she stumbled towards the door.4  
Fumbling with the handle she pulled the door open feeling a cool breeze coming from the hallway. Grabbing onto the door she pulled herself out into the hallway collapsing onto her knees right outside. Gritting her teeth as she felt something wet and slick seeping through her hospital gown.

Blood was seeping through her gown. Glancing down at her chest she gritted her teeth as the pain was so unbearable that a few times she almost black out. Pressing a hand against her stomach she tried to stand but found that her left leg wasn’t working. The pain from her leg seemed to flare all the way down making it hard to even move it. Taking a deep breath, she was going to try again when a voice to her right suddenly spoke.

“what the hell do you think you’re doing Agent Romanoff” The voice yelled. Turning her head, she was Agent Coulson running towards her almost in panic. “You can’t move you’ll pull out your stitches you idiot!” he yelled grabbing her arm to help her up.

“Oh… your already to… late for that” she said smashing her teeth together in pain as he pulled her up by the arm and glanced down at her hospital gown. Letting out a string of curses he glared at her. “Just wait right here would you I’ll get a nurse and please… please Agent Romanoff try not to move we would not want you bleeding out again” he said helping her towards the wall as she slid down letting out a sigh of relief as the pain was slowly fading still there of course just not as bad.

“what…what happened to Clint” she said looking up at Coulson. “He’s fine He actually believe it or not didn’t turn out as bad as you.” That couldn’t be right she know she shot him and stabbed him in the shoulder as well. “What but I shot him how the hell am I worse than he is” she said slightly annoyed but also slightly relieved as well.  
“well you only shot him in the side right above the hip bone on his right side and the stab wound was on his shoulder he may not be able to use that arm for a while but he actually shot an arrow directly at your chest it nearly pierced your lung actually and pulling it out as roughly as you did may have caused more damage and the other arrow actually went all the way through your left thigh and pulling that out probably made it worse I guess you were so busy trying to kill him that you didn’t realize how bad it had been” 

Barton was definitely going to rub this in and she already knew this. “Plus you’re a woman” he said snapping her out of her daze. “Excuse me what was that you said” she snarled about ready to knock the lights out of him. “You’re a woman you know you have a smaller build than a man it means that wounds like that could be more fatal to you than they would be to him and there is the possibility you could die faster from blood loss than he can” For a second there she had thought he was a sexist and she had been about to pop him a good one in the mouth but she would let this one slide.

“I am going to go ahead and get the nurse alright just don’t be stupid and please wait here that’s an order ok” he said stalking off has he went around the corner disappearing from sight. Letting out a sigh as it was finally quiet once more she frowned suddenly as she realized that Coulson still hadn’t mentioned were Barton was only that he was ok.

Footsteps sounded down the hall coming closer. Thinking it was Coulson she looked up only to see Fury standing there looking slightly annoyed. Deciding to ask the question that was bugging her she frowned. “where’s Clint?” she said her voice slightly raw and tired. “Agent Barton his back in the U.S has been for about a day or two now” he said casually leaning against the wall. Wait a day or two how long has she been out she thought confusion running through her.

It must have showed on her face because suddenly he spoke. “Six days you were out for six days. Barton was only unconscious for 2 days and he took about another two days to rest before we sent him back. We didn’t really have a choice though we were given specific orders that once the both of you were well enough to travel that you would both Get the hell out of Budapest…. Congratulations you have both been banned from this city it’s just like Dubai all over again Barton was band from there as well so this makes it the second time he has been banned from ever returning to a city and this is your first luckily nobody realized that the Moscow incident was your fault, would hate to get you banned from there” he said having finished talking. “but we didn’t even do anything that bad aside from The red room blowing up a shield base” she said frowning. 

A vein popped on fury’s head “Not that bad, not that bad do you even realize what you did. Well allow me to tell you when Barton fired those grenade arrows at tat red room base which by the way had a forest surrounding it when that building blew up some of the embers got on the trees you moron and then voila you started a massive forest fire by the time we got there it had nearly burnt the forest to the ground” This was sounding more and more like Barton’s fault than hers actually.  
“You’re lucky they didn’t charge you with arson and lock you up consider getting kicked out a slap on the wrist” he said glancing down at her “That wasn’t even my fault I’m not the one who fired the arrow” she said slightly annoyed that she was also getting blamed for this.

“In my book if one partner screws up they both do its both partners jobs to keep each other in line why do you think most agents quite after one mission with Barton let’s just say none of them liked getting yelled at for his mistake so what’s it going to be you want a new partner or what” he said looking at her with his one good eye.  
Baton was not getting away she was going to skin him alive the next time she saw him oh there was no way she was getting a different partner if he thought he could get away with this bullshit now that she was his partner he had another thing coming.

“No chance in hell am I getting a new partner don’t worry director by the time I am don’t with Barton he’ll be begging for a new partner hate to disappoint but I never back down” she snarled.  
“Well I think you and Barton will be perfect partners, maybe you will actually last for a change” he said smirking as he walked down the hall pausing right before he turned the corner he looked at her and spoke. “Oh and by the way you have to be out of the city by tomorrow and don’t worry Agent Coulson already has your passport ready you will be going back with him. I am going on ahead” he said letting out a wave as he disappeared from sight.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached as a nurse rushed down the hall with Coulson trailing behind her. “Took you long enough” She said annoyed as he smirked which actually made her believe that he had done it on purpose maybe he knew fury was coming and wanted her to talk to him. Oh that sly Bastard she thought smirking as she looked into his eyes. The nurse fretting over her trying to get her back into the bed.

Only one thought crossed her mind at that moment. She wondered if Clint was ok and when she would see him again. Well there was that and she wanted to slap him for getting her kicked out of the city she had never been kicked out of anywhere before and that fact alone really annoyed her.

Oh well guess it’s time to get the hell out of Budapest. 


	12. A Lie That Spanned 10 Years

Chapter 12: A Lie That Spanned 10 Years

They had left Budapest the next afternoon and had headed back towards the states and away from all the crazy that Natasha had experienced over those last few hectic weeks. Honestly she had never felt more exhausted in her life.

Having never left Russia aside from that trip to Budapest she was a little nervous and she really didn’t know what to expect. For most of the plane ride she slept exhausted from her injuries and the last few weeks as well

Landing at the airport Natasha followed Coulson through the terminal anxious to see Clint she couldn’t actually remember how long it’s been it was only about a week and yet it feels like years since she had laid eyes on him. She wondered at that moment if he missed her as much as she missed him.  
Clint Barton frowned at the paperwork in his hand. Glancing over at Fury he narrowed his eyes. “Is this punishment for that whole Budapest thing I mean I said I was sorry like a dozen times since you got back and now it seems like your punishing me with a mountain of paperwork” he said groaning as he rubbed the back of his head. This was definitely going to take almost all day.

“Agent Romanoff’s flight just landed 30 minutes ago if you want to see her then you will finish every last one of those damn forms got it” he said gruffly glancing down at some files that he was looking over a very slight smirk on his face.  
Snorting he looked over at Fury “what makes you think I want to see her?” he said stiffly looking down at the paperwork slowly beginning to fill it out. A deep laughter burst upward from Fury’s throat as he almost fell over laughing so hard. “Are you joking me don’t play dumb I know you want to see her don’t say idiotic or stupid things” he said still snorting into his hand.

Grumbling he mumbled under his breath. “yea well you try writing all this when you can’t even use your right hand” Fury looked up sharply letting out a steely glare “what was that Agent Barton!” he snapped annoyed and aggravated. “Nothing sir” he said glancing down at his paperwork. Man that guy has the ears of a hawk {no pun intended}.  
Natasha rushed up the steps of the building eager to see Barton and also to make sure he was ok she herself was still recovering and she knew that he must be as well. “Agent Romanoff wait up you won’t be able to get in without a badge and unfortunately yours hasn’t been made yet it may take a few weeks. So for now someone will have to escort you when you want in and out of the building got it” he said following in after her.

“Yea sure whatever” Natasha said shrugging casually all the while inside her nerves were in a jumbled mess, she was dying to see Barton. Coulson scanned his badge next to her and once it lit grin they stepped through the door and into her new life. Agents bustled around heading in different directions. Looking over the crowds of people she smirked. Shield really did seem like an interesting place to work.

A hand tugged at her elbow and she turned glancing over at Coulson. “Come on Agent Romanoff The director said he specifically wanted to see us when we got back probably shouldn’t keep him waiting he gets kind of cranky when that happens” Leading her down one of the hallways  
Arriving at the double doors Coulson pushed them open and sitting at his desk was fury glancing over paperwork that was scattered across the desk. “Well it’s about time both of you got here what did you do go sightseeing or something hurry up I haven’t got all day” he said waving his hand and motioning for them to sit down.

Going over to the vacant chair she sat down waiting for fury to continue “So I went over your mission report that Barton wrote and I stamped a completion on your first mission so congratulations is in order I guess honestly you caused more property damage than anything and now because of it I have all this paperwork to fill out so do me a favor and try to keep it to a minimal next time ok” he said snapping the file shut as he opened one of the drawers setting it inside.  
“Alright your dismissed that’s really all I wanted to tell you. Coulson can fill you in on the rest of the details now get the hell out of my office now you have wasted enough of my time ok” He said waving his hand to shoo them both out.

“Well at least he is in a good mood” Coulson said smirking before he glanced over at her. “oh by the way here’s the papers and documents you will need to start your new life here I will get you your shield credentials later ok well I have things I need to do OK you know the way out” he said nodding at her as he walked off in the opposite direction.  
Heading down the hallway towards the door on the left that lead out to the way they had come. Flinging open the door hard Natasha stepped out crashing hard into a warm body causing her to stumble. Arms encircled her waist to keep her from falling as she found herself looking up into the eyes of Clint Barton the very man that she had been wanting to see for days now.

“hey” he said grinning at her impishly a slight smirk on his face. Looking up into his face she blushed slightly at their close proximity hoping it didn’t show on her face. “well you look better than you did a few days ago Thought you were a goner there for a second” Smirking at her she blushed even deeper glancing down at his hand around her waist.  
“Uh You planning on letting me go anytime soon” She croaked. Frowning he released his hold on her taking a hesitant step back. Scratching the back of his head he looked down at her and opened his mouth “yea sorry about that kind of forgot there for a minute” Natasha opened her mouth to say something when suddenly she froze remembering the conversation earlier with Fury she glared glancing up at Barton sharply.

Punching him hard in the shoulder he stumbled almost falling over in shock. “ow what was that for” he whined rubbing his already bruised shoulder. “That was for getting me kicked out of Budapest permanently you do realize that I can never return there now thanks to you.” A low snicker came from Barton’s face as he looked up at her sheepishly “Yes I should have warned you when people partner with me they tend to get yelled at by the director a lot either that or they get banned from different cities. Granted that whole banned thing only happened in one other city Dubai but I am sure sometime in the future it will probably happen again” Glaring she punched him again.

“Well starting from today onward things are going to go differently around here I am not going to be blamed for your screw ups so you step out of line like in Budapest and I will make sure to hurt you even worse than me punching you real hard are we clear” she said smiling sweetly at him.  
“wow you are one scary girl” he murmured still rubbing his bruised soldier “By the way how are you after the whole brainwashing thing I mean do you feel alright nothing wrong with your head I hope” Looking over at him she shrugged. “I… I don’t really remember it most of that night is pretty hazy and I don’t really have a clear image of what happened after I got over the whole brainwashing thing”

“None of it not even what happened after you snapped out of your crazy self” he said hesitantly his eyes searching her but for what she didn’t know. “Sorry I don’t even really remember what happened with Ivanov most of it is just in chunks and it didn’t help that I lost a lot of blood that probably didn’t help me any. Why was there something important that I missed?” standing up straight he shook his head roughly “Nope nothing important not really anything you need to worry about just wondering if you remembered what happened to Ivanov is all really its nothing you can rest at ease”

Honestly she felt like she was missing something Clint was definitely hiding something she was sure of it but what it was she couldn’t actually say. She would figure it out later. “Thanks for coming to get me I know you didn’t have to you could have just left me there so thank you” she said smiling at hi softly.  
“We are partners of course I would come and find you… No actually we are more than that” he said pausing. Wait what was he talking about did he mean that. “You are my friend Nat and you always will be I told you that before remember I care about you and I will always be your friend no matter what ok” he said softly touching her cheek as he smiled. 

Friends they were just friends that word stung a little bit but she had always been good at pretending and if Barton wanted them to be just friends then she could do that. She could spend the rest of her life pretending to be just his friend. It would hurt her more if she told him the truth and he rejected her she knew then that their friendship would be destroyed and then she would have nothing left and she wasn’t willing to lose Barton ever. She would take this secret to the grave and she would never let him know it was for the best now.  
“Hey I’ve got to go Coulson already has an apartment set up for me I am going to check it out so I’ll see you around ok” she said smiling weakly she couldn’t ever let him know how she felt she couldn’t ever let him see her face lake this. She needed to put a mask on. She could never let herself be weak and she couldn’t be a child anymore after all love was for children.  
Barton watched her walk out of the building his face grimacing in pain she didn’t remember their second kiss or the fact that he told her he loved her. She remembered none of it maybe it was better this way. If she found out and rejected him, it would destroy everything they built and he couldn’t afford this. He couldn’t allow feelings to get in the way of being an agent.

She was his partner now an agent of shield. She needed him now more as a friend than anything else and he couldn’t be selfish. He had to let her go. His love for her needed to die or at the very least he needed to snuff it out good so that she would never find out the truth. If she did it might very well kill him inside.  
They would be partners and nothing more he needed to do his job. He really couldn’t let her down she trusted him too much to ever disappoint him and telling her how he felt would definitely disappoint. “Hey did Agent Romanoff leave already” A voice said behind him.  
Turning around he frowned seeing Fury standing behind him leaning against the wall. “Yea she left a few minutes ago she wanted to see her new apartment” he mumbled looking away. “That’s great so did you tell her how you felt” “No I decided it was best to… wait what?” he said whirling around to stare at Fury with his mouth hanging open in shock.

“Don’t take me for an idiot Barton I have eyes you know or at least one eye. Coulson knows it too we are not stupid but apparently you are” he said standing up straighter as headed past Barton and towards the door “Wait what does that mean?” he said confused as he looked at Fury’s face waiting for a sign. “Figure it out yourself I don’t got time to baby you Barton oh and here is yours and Agents Romanoff’s next case both of you are going to Istanbul please don’t do anything that would get you kicked out ok” he said waving his hand as he strode out the doors.

Holding the file in his hand he frowned despite Budapest being there first mission together. To him this mission right here was the start of their partnership to test how well they would do together when they weren’t being chased by people who wanted Natasha dead. He could do Istanbul and he also knew that he could keep his feels bottled up. He had control he wouldn’t let his feelings get in the way of the mission.

He could do this their partnership began now. Today was the start as partners. As agents of shield and he wouldn’t let her down ever he could keep a secret.

 


	13. Everyone Knows But Them

Chapter 13: Everyone Knows but Them  
Present Day…...  
{It’s hard to believe that all of that had happened 10 years ago. A time from so far away sometimes I wonder if it was all a dream at least to me it feels like it me and Clint are both different people than we were back then but my feelings have still never changed.  
I don’t think they ever will. Even to this day Budapest was still the worst mission that I ever went on and despite how close me and Clint were he still was completely clueless about my feelings.

At least we haven’t caused anymore property damage I made sure a long time ago to beat that out of Clint… well aside from the battle with Loki but that was more of a team effort. Oh yea I guess the battle with Loki is what started this stupid trip down memory lane with Budapest anyway…...} A knock on the sliding glass door broke Natasha away from her thoughts she had been looking out over the city on the balcony of the avenger’s tower. Glancing behind her she saw fury leaning against a wall eyeing her with his one good eye. “what are you doing out here its below zero doesn’t this bother you” shrugging her shoulders she smirked. “trust me it’s much colder than this in Russia”

Silence followed after that mostly because Natasha didn’t really talk about Russia anymore. It always reminded her of the Budapest mission when she brought it up so she decided it was best just to not talk about it and everyone took the hint. “I was remembering Budapest again” she murmured mostly to herself and almost so quiet that fury almost missed it well almost.  
“Budapest was a long time ago Agent Romanoff shouldn’t you have gotten over it by now” he said letting out a tired sigh. She would never get over it and they both knew it. “Let me ask you something Romanoff do you still have feelings for him” he said glaring at her sharply turning on her heels fast she froze a blush slowly creeping up her face. “what I don’t have feelings for Clint ok I never have” she said firmly hoping he would drop the subject.

“You both are a couple of morons you know that complete idiots and I don’t even know how your alive and I am not stupid I have eyes or an eye at least so don’t play dumb with me I have been watching you two for years pussy footing around you two give me headaches just by looking at you. I have never seen two people more Naive” He said grumbling as he walked away.  
“wait what did you mean by that” she said reaching out a hand towards him. “your smart right go figure it out yourself unless you take another 10 years then you really are dumb” he grumbled disappearing from sight.  
Fury seemed more annoyed than usual she wondered if he was still pissed about that Loki incident and what the hell did he mean by pussy footing around now her head was really starting to hurt.

Going back inside she turned and headed down the opposite hall that fury had went a frown marring her face as she tried to piece everything together what the hell was he talking about she thought pausing as she suddenly collided with a hard chest looking up she frowned looking up she frowned “Coulson what the hell are you doing here I thought you were with your new team or something” she said narrowing her eyes at the older agent.  
“Oh stark called me in he said he wanted to talk about something I am going to see him now” He said answering with a shrug “why are you listening too stark you never listen to him” she answered frowning “well he said it wasn’t important some life or death matter and on the chances that he might be right I thought I should check it out and see what he wanted” he said nodding his head as he brushed past her.

Glancing over her shoulder she called out to him “hey you seen Clint today?” she asked a slight frown marring her face. “Yea I think he was in the training room either that or he is in his nest I got to go don’t want to keep stark waiting before he starts bitching at me” he said turning away from her as he gave one last wave before disappearing around the corner.  
Clint wasn’t that hard to find but really to her he never was. Climbing up the railing she swung her leg over the bar and positioned herself next to him surprisingly Clint was silent which was weird for her honestly she wasn’t used to a quiet Clint and she didn’t know how to react.

Nudging him with her shoulder. He looked over and smiled softly “hey what’s wrong” she said “You have been pretty quiet is something bothering you” she spoke softly waiting for him to speak “No everything’s fine I was just thinking about Budapest is all not really a big deal” he said gruffly letting out a sigh. They really did think as one both of them having Budapest on their minds it was almost like they were in sink. 

“Yea I was too but that was a long time ago and I am over it now” Standing up she glanced down at Clint not wanting him to ever know how Budapest had really affected her. “Come on let’s go back the others might start to wonder where we are” she said walking away and knowing that Clint was probably right behind her.  
“Wait so let me get this straight you dragged me all the way here just to ask me if Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff had feelings for each other are you kidding me” Coulson yelled completely annoyed and about ready to slap Tony upside the head not that it would do any good.

“yes I have to know its killing me” tony whined shaking Coulson roughly by the shoulders. “Well honestly I don’t know why you’re asking me that I thought it was obvious” “if it is then why aren’t they together” Tony said pointedly raising an eyebrow. “Because they are idiots that’s why” A voice said from the doorway which belonged to none other than the director himself.

Tony waved his hand absently almost uninterested as he said “anyway I need your helping in getting them together I just needed to make sure they had actually feelings for each other and now that they do I can start working my plan out this will be easy they should be together by evening” he grinned rubbing his hands together.  
“Don’t even think about it stark those two are morons who need to figure it out themselves you interfere and it will be the worst mistake of your life” Tony let out a grumble mumbling under his breath as he plopped down in his chair.  
The door opened after that signaling the entrance of both Natasha and Clint walking in side by side with tony leisurely glancing over at them from the corner of his eye.  
Natasha glanced over at tony wondering why he was looking at her like that the way he was bouncing in his seat it was like he was dying to say something but seemed to be trying to hold himself back. “what’s your problem stark” she barked giving him a steely glare.

At this point he looked like he was going to explode “alright enough what is up with you” she said as everyone had turned their attention too tony all of their eyes seemed to be screaming something but it seemed like he didn’t even care. Bolting out of his seat he threw open his mouth and shouted damned be the consequences. “do you and birdbrain like each other” he shouted and what happened after that was the sound of hands slapping their own faces.  
Natasha stood frozen almost shell shocked unable to move as she looked at the faces from every single person in the room. Did all of them know? Was she that obvious? Did Clint know? Glancing over at him he seemed just as stunned as she was. No of course he didn’t know why would he she was sure that he would have said something a long time ago if he had noticed.

“What are you stupid Tony me and Nat don’t like each other like that we are just friends, partners and nothing more” Clint said laughing weakly almost like he was lying to himself. That was the final straw and she couldn’t bear it any longer running towards the door she shouted “I am going out I may not be back for a while” Slamming the door behind her she let out a gasp as tears fell from her cheeks sliding to the ground she held back a sob.  
She couldn’t do it anymore she really couldn’t she had thought she was stronger than this but now everyone knew and it was painfully obvious she couldn’t stay here not as an avenger and not at shield. Maybe it was time Natasha finally went home.

Walking towards fury’s office she slowly pulled out her badge and id setting them on his desk as tears fell from her cheeks this was the better option she knew it was better than him ever finding out the truth.  
Coulson rushed down the hall fast skidding to a halt as he saw fury leaning against a wall all of the avenger’s present “Sir we have a problem the black widow has gone rogue Natasha she’s gone” he said slightly out of breath “Relax Coulson she will turn up eventually” he said shrugging and not worried at all.  
“But she left her badge and id on your desk and most of her stuff is gone from her room I already told Agent hill and she’s trying to track her down” Clint stood up fast a look of fear on his face this wasn’t like Natasha not at all what the hell has gotten into her.

“What the hell why would she just leave did she not think that I would track her ass down and drag her all the way back because boy does she have another thing coming” Clint said grinding his teeth together as he paced back and forth.  
The door burst open as Maria Hill burst in through the door “Sir it looks like we got a location on her Agent Romanoff appears to have bought a plane ticket to Budapest” she said slightly out of breath.

“what the hell she’s banned from there how does she expect to get in” “I don’t know maybe a fake id” Clint said standing up as he made his way towards the door. “Were the hell are you going Barton” he yelled standing up. “where do you think Budapest I am going to drag Natasha back by the hair and ask her what the hell she was thinking” he yelled throwing open the door as he stormed out.

“wait you can’t enter Budapest either your banned remember” He heard Fury shout from the door. Yelling back over his shoulder “I don’t care if she could enter Budapest undetected then so can I” And when he finally got a hold of Natasha if she tried to fight him then he would just have to kiss her pretty mouth to shut up any arguing that she had planned.

Back to where it all began it seemed and wasn’t that ironic.


	14. Back To 10 Years Ago

Chapter 14: Back To 10 Years Ago

10 years had come and gone since Natasha had set Foot on the soils of Budapest and yet it almost felt like not a day had gone by since she had been there. The forest was still the same and the trees that had burnt down were now flourishing. A soft breeze blew by as Natasha closed her eyes relishing in the quiet.

She had come here for closure and after that she would head back to Russia. The place where she had been born. She needed to let go now of all the feelings she had bottled up for 10 years and so she came here the very place she had realized her feelings and now this is where it all ends where she lets go and moves on because isn’t it better this way.  
Better to hide than to admit the truth and face rejection because she knew that she wouldn’t be able to bear it if he rejected her. It really just might kill her and she didn’t know if she would be able to go on if that happened. Standing in the remains of the burnt and ashen building which was nothing but a pile of loose boards and chard walls barely hanging on it seems that in all these years no one had bothered to clean up the mess after this red room base had exploded not that it mattered to her.

One final scream, one final release was all she needed and then she could move on she told herself and put all of this behind her. Taking a deep shaky breath, she opened her mouth sucking in a lung full of air and screamed raw and hoarse tears spilling down her cheeks as she put everything into that scream all the emotions she felt.  
The vulnerability, the weakness, the pain screaming all at once she released everything all that she felt the tears sliding down her neck and falling onto the soil. This was the last time she would let this affect her she just needed to get all of it out once and for all. Slowly the scream died away as she stood there panting her knees shaking from exhaustion.

Her breath coming out in gasps of breath as she struggled to breathe again even though it had really been about 10 years since she felt like she had taken her last breath.  
A crunching noise resounded behind her making her freeze up. “Wow when did you become a Banshee Nat guess I missed the memo on your new superpower. That should come in handy on our next battle if you want to stun them I guess” A cheery voice said behind her causing her to freeze like a deer caught in headlights.

She could feel him behind her the warmth from his chest radiating heat on her back causing her stomach to twist and turn giving her a queasy feeling. Lowering her hand a few tears left over dripped down her chin as she frowned her lips quivering. “What are you doing here” she whispered her voice hoarse. “Well let’s see here how about the fact that my partner decided to go AWOL without any explanation what the hell were you thinking Nat” he said grabbing her shoulder roughly and spinning her around.

Standing their dried tears stains on her face as her lips trembled she shook her head violently glancing away from him. “Didn’t you get the memo I quit” She said gritting her teeth finding it very hard to say now that she was face to face with him. “Yea I don’t Except that You are coming back if I have to drag you back by the hair” Moving towards her until they were chest to chest she could feel his breath on her face as she looked up into his eyes.

“why… why did you run away why do you always…have to be so conflicting. Damn it you seriously confuse the hell out of me” he whispered hoarsely his eyes searching hers for something she didn’t know.  
Reaching a hand to touch her cheek she jerked away from him turning away. “Me I am the one who’s confusing? Let me tell you something you scare the hell out of me” she yelled turning back to face him. Fear written all over her face. “Why do you have to be this?” she said waving her hand up and down his body. “I don’t understand what you’re saying Nat why can’t you ever just say what you mean? why did you run away? why do I scare you? what the hell is going on in that head of yours.” He yelled frustration clear in his eyes.  
Turning her back on him she knelt on the ground. A sigh escaped from her lips “Do you remember when we first met Clint you outsmarted me when you shot that arrow through the window I hadn’t known you had laced the arrow and it ended up with me unconscious” she whispered staring at the ground.

“Yea I remember but I don’t understand why your telling me this?” he said “The important part wasn’t the arrow or the fact that you knocked me out what was important was that you had outsmarted me and no one had ever done that before” she choked feeling the tears welling up. “All these years you have always bested me even if it wasn’t one on one fighting you were always so smart and yet you are the dumbest man I have ever known” she said standing up as she whirled to face him.

“So tell me if you’re so smart why couldn’t you figure out how I felt” she sobbed tears falling freely from her lashes now. “I waited and waited for you to catch up to realize what practically everyone at shield, Hell even the avengers knew but I guess none of it mattered you didn’t realize not because your dumb but because you didn’t want to see what really was in my heart and that’s when it hit me you will never feel the same way its why I can’t stay at shield or be an avenger anymore” She said standing up straighter as she hurriedly brushed away tears.

“What are you saying please Nat tell me I need you to say it” He whispered desperate for the words he had been silently begging to hear for 10 years. “You want me to say? You want me to say!” she yelled getting right up in his face. “I love you!!! God damn it you asshole I love you more than anything I have loved you for 10 god damn years. I have suffered through again and again and it still doesn’t change the fact that I can’t stop loving you not even for a second. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t suffer like this It kills me to know that my feelings will never be returned so don’t you dare ask me to return to shield don’t you dare be that crue…”  
Lips smashed against hers a body slamming her back as she felt arms wrap around her waist. Nails digging into her hip bone as the oxygen was cut off from her body. Gasping into his mouth she could feel his lips searing into hers as he devoured her practically making it impossible for her to breathe almost like he was making up for lost time in those long 10 years. His lips molding against hers she felt his tongue sliding along her lips as he slowly broke the very heated kiss.

“Sorry…” He panted out of breath “I have wanted to do that for 10 years you can continue showering me with love now if you wish” Her face turned red with anger swinging her fist she hit hard slamming her fist into his shoulder causing him to stumble away. “Oww what the hell was that for?” he whined rubbing his aching shoulder which would probably bruise by tomorrow.

“You know what that was for why the hell did you kiss me are you just playing with me is this a game to you why would you do that” she croaked afraid of his answer almost not wanting to hear it she could feel the tears. Leaning towards her he slowly cupped her cheek brushing away the fallen tears Resting his forehead against hers he let out a deep sigh. “Don’t you know dummy it’s because I love you. I think I’ve loved you since you escaped from me that second time I have never met anyone like you in my entire life and I didn’t think I could ever fall so deeply but then you came. So beautiful and strong, Confident how could I, how could anyone not fall in love with you?” He whispered his lips brushing against hers in a very soft kiss.

Looking up into his eyes she searched him for a lie but only found warmth there and something else that she hadn’t seen before or maybe something that she had been too afraid to see… Love. Sobbing she threw her arms around his neck catching him off guard as both of them stumbled.  
Capturing his lips in a bruised and heated kiss. She felt him reciprocate almost immediately kissing back with just as much eagerness his lips molding to hers as she felt his tongue brushing across her lips begging for entrance parting her lips she let him in feeling his tongue lightly brush against hers. There was time for dominance later but now all she needed was this slow sensual kiss almost as if they had all the time in the world. Slowly pulling away her lungs screaming for air. She gasped against his mouth trying to regain her breathing.

“So does this mean… your coming back to shield… The avengers?” he whispered hopefully and slightly out of breath. Smiling against his lips she whispered “what do you think?” almost coyly as she looked up at him teasingly. A smirk slowly stretched across his face “well I’ll take that as a yes alright let’s go” he shouted picking her up by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder.

“hey w…what do you think you’re doing” she squeaked pounding on his back as he carried her in the direction that he had come from. “Well you did run away once can’t risk you doing it again it would be a pain to have to chase you half way around the country so I better keep a tight leash on you just in case you try to escape again” he said a smirk growing on her face. Blushing bright red she glared “Yea it sounds more like you just wanted to throw me over your shoulder to tease me” she grumbled as laughter rumbled up his chest. “Well there is that too” he said laughing lightly to himself.

“Hey I don’t think the Budapest mission is the worst mission I have ever been on anymore” Clint said softly as he walked through the forest with Natasha on his back. “It’s not why?” she asked thinking of everything that mission had put them through. All the pain and suffering.  
“Because I met you Nat I would do it all over again just to meet you. The pain and the suffering is worth it just for the chance to fall in love. Don’t the best love stories start in tragedy anyway I mean look at Romeo and Juliet a forbidden love right there” ……. “Both of them died you idiot not really the best reference for our situation don’t you think” she asked glancing over to look at the side of his face. “right sorry I forgot how that one ended but it doesn’t change anything meeting you was the best thing that could have ever happened to me and I don’t regret Budapest not ever” he said Smiling she thought about all the had been through the good and the bad and she knew her answer.

“Yea me too but do me a favor and next time either one of us has a secret let’s not try to wait 10 years and then just blurt it out when we can’t take it anymore I mean I could barely hang onto this secret I don’t think I could handle another 10 years of agony” The corner of his lips turned up into a smile as a low chuckle reverberated through his chest.  
“Alright deal” He said with a smirk on his face.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	15. Coming Home

Chapter 15: Coming Home

On the plane ride back both of them were quiet not really discussing what had happened but really words didn’t need to be said. For the first time Natasha felt a weight lifted off her chest the agony she had been experiencing for 10 years was gone now and for the first time she could finally breathe.

Tired and exhausted she laid her head on his shoulder taking in the peace and the quiet neither of them had to say anything they both loved each other she knew that now. So many years hiding the truth when she could have just let it all out and save herself all those years of torture but maybe this was how it was always supposed to go.

The drive back to the avenger’s initiative was quiet as well. Getting out of the car she glanced over at Clint who smiled softly at her making her way back inside she headed down the hallway towards Fury’s office hoping he wouldn’t chew her out. A hand squeezed hers gently and she looked over at Clint this time smiling softly back at him.

Stepping into fury’s office he looked up giving her a hard glare. “Agent Romanoff what the hell were you thinking running off like that did I give you permission to leave I don’t think so and you went to Budapest of all places I am pretty sure you were strictly prohibited from ever returning there your just lucky that your presence wasn’t noticed” he said annoyance written on his face.

Leaning against the door she let out a sigh wishing Clint were here usually he was the one getting chewed at by Fury not her. “So did you and Barton talk it out finally or are you both still as clueless as ever” He said raising a questioning eyebrow at her. Shaking her head she smiled “No we talked it out no more lies I don’t think I could hold in another secret for 10 years” she said letting out a sigh of relief.

Standing up he looked at her smirking “Good now that we’ve got that settled…” he said walking around the desk as he grabbed the door opening it as all the Avengers including Coulson and Clint tumbled into the doorway looking up at them sheepishly. “Oh good your all here Coulson, Tony I believe you two owe me 50 bucks” he said a slight smirk showing on his face as he held out his hand.

“what the hell you bet on us what did you bet about” Clint said glaring at Fury, Coulson and Tony “Well actually me and Phil have had this bet for 10 years on when you two would get together honestly my time was almost up and I was about to lose luckily you idiots realized just in time and tony found out about the betting pool while she ran off to Budapest and he wanted to weigh in said you would both come back single and as clueless as ever but he was wrong” he said smugly as two fifties were placed in his hand.  
Tony let out an annoyed grumble “Yea well how was I supposed to know this was how it would play out” he mumbled looking away with a slight pout on his face. “Well if you bad been in on the bet since 10 years ago you would have realized that either they were coming back together or she wouldn’t be coming back at all” Coulson rubbed the back of his head letting out a sigh “Yea I kind of figured I lost when she ran off like that” he said laughing weakly as Natasha gave all of them a death glare.

“Well I am glad all of you found this amusing” she said grabbing Clint’s hand tightly as she pulled him through the crowd storming away. Yanking him by the arm he winced “Hey Nat maybe you don’t have to be so rough they were just joking” he said grimacing as she pulled even harder dragging him towards her room and slamming the door shut behind them.

“Shut up would you?” she said shoving him towards the bed as she fell on top of him and kissed him hungrily. Immediately reciprocating, he grabbed her by the shirt and flipped them over until he was on top and began to place soft kisses down her neck. Bringing his head up to her lips he captured them again in a bruising kiss as she felt his tongue invading her mouth. Slowly reaching for his shirt she lifted it up about to yank it off him when suddenly she froze.

Pulling way abruptly from his lips she frowned. “what? Why did you stop?” he asked slightly gasping for breath. “I just have one question?” Natasha mused slightly annoyed “what now?! Can’t you see we are in the middle of something” he whined slightly childish. “No this has been bothering me for 10 years and I need to know” she said shoving him off her exasperated “ok fine what’s on your mind currently not sex at the moment even though I have been waiting for 10 god damn years, but sure it can wait I am sure what you have to say is much more important go ahead” he said waving his hand and giving her the floor.

Glaring at him frostily she snorted at his childish manners “I just need to know this because it has been bugging the hell out of me alright… what the hell happened in Dubai?!” she said throwing her hands up as she glanced at him. Slowly looking to meet her eyes he was silent for a long time before finally he screamed. “You interrupted sex for that!!! Are you kidding me?! What the hell is wrong with you?! You crazy kid! Damn now the mood is completely dead thanks a lot” he said sitting up with an annoyed look on his face.

“So are you going to tell me or not?” she said waiting for an answer “No Natasha I am not going to tell you because that is a long story and it would literally take all night to tell it maybe another time or ask Agent Hill she was there too ok” He said softly letting out a tired sigh.  
Leaning towards him she snorted a sly grin on her face as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back onto the bed. Capturing him lips in a bruising kiss. She pulled away smiling “Thank you Clint” she said looking at him because she really had meant it.

All those years ago she had been a lost girl and then he came he had saved her from that loneliness and the darkness and gave her a place where she could feel safe and now she wasn’t alone anymore she had him. Running for 10 years that’s all she had been doing she had been afraid and she had run away from him over and over again honestly she hadn’t been afraid of his rejection.

She had been afraid of her own feelings, that’s why she had bottled it up. She had been running from the truth all along. She wasn’t running anymore. In the 10 years that she had known Clint she had been struggling to catch up to him and now she was finally home. She had been coming home all along she had just needed to see that herself. Coming home the long way around.

“Thank you for what?” he asked looking up at her. Shaking her head, she smiled “It doesn’t matter” she said grinning as he rolled his eye, grabbing her by the neck he pulled down as she squeaked. Falling on top of him she laughed as his lips came in contact with hers again she grinned into the kiss as his lips devoured hers and only one thought crossed her mind in that moment. 

She was finally home.

The End

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End file.
